


Magical Connections

by Buffyworldbuilder, lateVMlover (Buffyworldbuilder)



Series: Americans in Hogwarts [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 73,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffyworldbuilder/pseuds/Buffyworldbuilder, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffyworldbuilder/pseuds/lateVMlover
Summary: This story is set after the Third Harry Potter book is mostly over and at the end of season 1 of BTVS. That puts Buffy two years older than Harry.When Buffy died at the end of season 1, the spell hiding her true magical heritage was broken. Severus Snape, her true father, journeys to the hellmouth to meet her for the first time. There he finds more magical connections. The Scoobies learn of a whole new world, alternating their lives forever.There won’t be any romantic pairings in this story. This story, like most of mine, will be more character driven than plot driven.  I will also be mostly using plotlines from Rowling and changes will occur due to the BTVS characters.Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Harry Potter, who belong to the genius of Whedon and Rowling respectively.
Series: Americans in Hogwarts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978108
Comments: 28
Kudos: 35





	1. A Magical Wave

**Author's Note:**

> I am NOT a huge Harry Potter fan and found the movies pretty tedious, and I haven’t even seen all the movies. However, I enjoyed reading all the books except for the 3rd one that bored me. The last few books were particularly exciting, but I have never read them more than once. I say all this so everyone will understand that I am NOT a Harry Potter expert, and I am SURE I will mess things up. Before you have a freak out and post reviews upset, keep that in mind. I will try to leave a note when I purposefully change something, though, so you will know it’s creative license. I have never had any desire to write a HP story until I started reading BTVS/HP crossovers even though someone once asked me to. As most of my readers have probably noticed, I am mostly obsessed with BTVS crossovers. Due to some many great HP/BTVS writers on TTH, I have become much more interested in the dark characters of the stories like Snape and Draco even as my love of the Weasley twins only grows. Expect there to be significant deviations from the books as this IS a crossover, and I will only be loosely using Goblet of Fire

_*****Hogwarts******_

Severus Snape was in his quarters at Hogwarts when he felt a wave of magic. Alarmed, he looked up at his family tapestry and gasped. It couldn’t be! What the hell happened?

Quickly, he made his way to Dumbledore’s office, knocking and then opening his office door without waiting for his permission. “Albus!” he said.

“What is wrong Severus?” Albus asked in the calm manner of his.

“Something has happened to my daughter!” he shared.

“What do you mean? Is she not with her mother in the States?” Albus asked.

Albus had helped Severus all those years ago when he had discovered that the love affair he had after he graduated from Hogwarts had real consequences. Severus had met and become infatuated with an American artist studying over spring break during a low point in his young life. Joyce had been sweet and wanted an affair with a British man. Severus had been flattered at her attention and spent two happy weeks with the woman. They’d only had sex her last night, but it had been enough to impregnant her. Of course, he had no idea of the result of his actions at the time. Then Lily’s union with James Potter had caused him to embrace the dark arts and take Voldemort’s mark. When he found out Joyce was pregnant a few months later, he went to Albus in desperation. It would be entirely too selfish to bring a child into his world. Albus had helped him hide his bloodline from even his family tree.

“Joyce has been raising her in California. She sends me a yearly report of her daughter,” Severus admitted. At first, he thought it would be best if he just forgot about her. He thought that if he never laid eyes on her, maybe he wouldn’t miss what he didn’t know. However, Joyce was a kind and thoughtful woman, and she sent him missives and photos to a post office box he supplied her with. Of course, she knew nothing of his magical abilities or his world. She believed he was an art lover like her about to start at the university before becoming a chemistry teacher. He never told her that he didn’t have to go to a muggle school to teach at Hogwarts.

“Don’t you mean _your_ daughter?” Albus clarified.

Severus gave his boss and mentor an impatient look. “She should not suddenly appear on my family tapestry, Albus. I felt a wave of magic before it happened. Something is wrong!” Severus exclaimed.

“What is the last you heard from Joyce concerning your daughter?” Albus asked.

“Buffy Anne had some trouble at her old school. Joyce sent her to a muggle hospital to get tested, and they determined she was not seriously ill. Shortly after that, she and her husband split up, and she moved Buffy Anne to a town called Sunnydale,” Severus shared.

Albus looked shocked. “Your daughter moved to the hellmouth?” he asked.

“What?” Severus asked in dismay.

“The hellmouth,” Albus replied. “It is the largest of its kind on the planet and currently under the prevue of the Watcher’s Council. The last I heard, the town even has its own vampire slayer.”

Severus’ heart filled with fear. “My little girl is in a town that needs a vampire slayer? Something must have happened to her there! The magic I felt was connected to her,” he said.

“I will contact our liaison to the Watcher’s Council and find out what I can,” Albus said. “Do you have a way to contact Joyce and check on your daughter’s well-being?”

He nodded. “I have a phone number,” he said. “I will have to go to the nearest muggle phone to make a call.”

“You do that, and I will send an owl to the council,” Albus said.

Severus wasted no time. He got outside of the wards around Hogwarts and then apparated into the nearest town with a phone.

Unfortunately, his call with Joyce told him nothing. Joyce was more than surprised to hear from him, and she asked him if he was coming for a visit. Severus was so surprised by the invitation that he said yes. Joyce seemed delighted and told him that she would be telling Buffy all about him.

Severus was so discombobulated that he walked slowly back to Hogwarts trying to decide if he could actually go to the States and see his daughter for the first time. Every letter and picture Joyce sent was imprinted on his brain. He knew all the things Joyce shared about his daughter. She was outgoing and vivacious—like Joyce and nothing like Severus. Her life was one of ice skating and parties and friends; she knew nothing of darkness or loneliness. Hank Summers was the man she loved as her father, and Joyce had told him that he treated their daughter very well. Although Severus was filled with bitterness and jealousy, he was glad that his daughter had a man so very different from his own unfeeling father.

When he finally made it by foot back to Hogwarts, an hour had passed since he spoke with Albus. It was getting late, and he decided to head to bed. Hopefully, Albus would have more information about what might’ve caused his daughter’s cloaking to dissipate.

***** _Sunnydale******_

Buffy was glad it was the weekend. After her death and recitation the night before, she was in major need of a relaxing weekend. In another week, her dad was coming to get her to spend the summer in Los Angeles. It would be so good to get out of Sunnydale. It was hard being a slayer and knowing that she could die at any moment. She had barely lived, and she had already died once. If it wasn’t for Xander, her mother would be planning her funeral today.

“Honey, are you awake?” her mother called out.

“I’m awake,” she said.

“I’m fixing pancakes, so come down soon,” her mother said.

Buffy grinned and jumped out of bed. Her mother always made a ton of pancakes and didn’t judge Buffy when she ate a ridiculous amount. She grabbed some clothes and jumped into the shower. Last night, she washed her hair after her drowning, so she just rinsed off, keeping her hair out of the spray. Showers always revived her, so always made time for them morning and night. Slaying always made her feel icky.

A short time later, she was sitting at her breakfast table with her mother digging into to breakfast. “I can’t believe you made pancakes _and_ bacon!” she gushed, grabbing a crispy piece and munching happily on it.

Joyce smiled, feeling nervous. There had never been a reason to tell Buffy that Hank wasn’t her biological father because Severus had never shown any inclination to be a part of Buffy’s life. Instead, he’d been content with yearly reports and photographs. Joyce always received a thank you card from him after every letter she sent, so she knew the man cared enough to read them. Once, he had sent her a somber picture of himself. Well, it wasn’t a photo but a small portrait. The likeness was incredible, so she had it put in a small 4 x 6 frame. Buffy had never seen it, but she brought it to the breakfast table, sitting it face down on the table next to her.

When Buffy was almost finished eating, she began speaking. “Buffy, I need to speak to you about something that is important, and I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner,” she said.

Buffy frowned, looking up at her mother. “Tell me what?” she asked.

“When I was in my sophomore year of college, I took a two-week trip to England. I was part of a group of young artists, and it was the most exciting moments of my life,” Joyce shared.

“Really? How come you never mentioned this before?” Buffy asked. “That sounds amazing! I would totally love to see the land of Giles!”

“Land of Giles?” Joyce asked in confusion.

“My librarian at school, Giles, he’s from England,” Buffy explained. It made her a bit sad that her mom didn’t really know Giles, who had become such an important figure in her life.

“Oh, well, yes, it was a great time,” she said. “I got caught up in the romance of it all. I took a ferry to Paris in a day—that’s the way Europe is. You can just hop on a train or a boat for very little money and be in another country.”

“I’m so jealous! Maybe we can plan a trip after I graduate?” Buffy asked excitedly.

“I would love that, honey,” Joyce said. “While I was there, I met this dashing British man and had a bit of a love affair. His name was Severus Snape.”

Buffy’s eyes widened, and she gasped. “Seriously? You had the slutty sex! I’m so telling!” she teased.

Joyce blushed. “I met him my second day, and we spent every day together. On my last day, I did sleep with him,” she said. “He was very sweet, and he was about two years younger.”

“You cougar!” Buffy teased, enjoying the rare opportunity to tease her nearly perfect mother. “Was he hot?”

“I found him to be so,” she said. “He was dark haired and brooding. He reminded me of Lord Byron with that hair. Everything about him was so intense.”

Buffy sighed. “Wow. That sounds so sexy! I want that someday,” she said with a pout.

“I’m sure you’ll have it, sweetie. When your _older_ and ready,” Joyce said. “I was nearly twenty years old, which is a good age for love.”

“Not that I’m not loving this story, Mom, but what brings up the nostalgia? An art buying trip to England coming up?” Buffy inquired.

“No, I got a call from Severus yesterday,” Joyce admitted.

Buffy’s mouth fell open. “Your ex is coming here to visit you? Oh my God, Mom! That’s amazing!” Buffy exclaimed. “Seventeen years later, and he’s never forgotten you. I bet he’s just pining away all alone there in stuffy old England!”

“Well, not exactly, honey,” Joyce said, feeling more and more uncomfortable. “Here’s the thing, Buffy. I met your Dad about a month after I returned. He and I took things slow, and I fell utterly in love with him. It was different than Severus but real. And he was so crazy about me that he didn’t care that I—” She paused, trying to get the courage to say the words. “Your dad didn’t care that I was pregnant with another man’s baby.”

Buffy wasn’t sure she heard her mother correctly. “I’m sorry? What are you trying to say?” she asked. Surely, her mother wasn’t trying to tell her what it sounded like she was trying to tell her.

“I’m trying to tell you that Hank Summers, the man who raised you and loves you isn’t the man who created you,” Joyce said. “Your father’s name is Severus.” She picked up the portrait and handed it to Buffy. “This is your biological father.”

Buffy felt liked her head was inside a tunnel, and she couldn’t breathe. She stood up, barely looking at the picture her mother had. “Daddy isn’t my dad?” she asked in disbelief. 

“Hank is your dad. He loves you more than anything,” Joyce said. “Not for one moment did he ever show me anything but love and acceptance. He never treated you like you weren’t his, so don’t you dare think that he’s not your dad.”

“I can’t hear this right now,” Buffy said, turning to go.

“Wait!” Joyce called. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”

Buffy slowly turned back to her mother, trying to brace herself for the next blow. “What?” she asked.

“He’s coming here. Severus wants to meet you,” Joyce said.

“He’s coming here?” Buffy asked, feeling panicked. “When?”

“I’m not sure, but it’ll be soon,” Joyce said.

“What about Dad?” Buffy asked.

“I’ll talk to your dad,” Joyce said, feeling a pang of guilt.

Buffy couldn’t look at her mother anymore because the feeling of betrayal was strong. How could she not tell me? She left, running toward Willow’s.

***** _Hogwarts******_

After breakfast the next day, Albus asked Severus to come to his office. Anxious, Severus followed him. He must have gotten word about what might be going on in Sunnydale. As soon as they were in his office, he said, “Did you find out something?”

Albus nodded as he sat behind his desk. “You may want to sit down for this,” he said, gesturing to his chair. 

“What? Is Buffy Anne in danger?” Severus asked.

“Most likely,” Albus said. “She was called over a year or so ago as a vampire slayer. She’s the slayer guarding the hellmouth.”

“What?” Severus demanded, jumping up. “There must be some mistake!”

“No mistake. Buffy was prophesied to die two nights ago by the hands of a master vampire, who was going to open the hellmouth,” Albus said. “She did die. The vampire drowned her in a fountain.”

“Merciful Merlin! I don’t understand! Why did Joyce lie to me? Why did she tell me Buffy Anne was fine?”

“Because she is,” Albus said, smiling. “Your daughter had a friend with her that knew something called CPR. It’s how Muggles bring people back from near death without magic. She was brought back, and she proceeded to kill the Master. Your daughter is extraordinary, Severus.”

Severus collapsed back on the chair, trying to take in the news. “Now it makes sense. When she died, the spell we did was broken, so when she came back, her blood was noticed by the Prince family magic,” he said.

“Do you think others could’ve noticed?” Albus asked pointedly.

Severus shook his head. “I don’t think the surge was strong enough to attract the Dark Lord’s notice,” he said. “It just hit my family tree strongly.”

“What do you want to do?” Albus said.

Severus was silent a long moment, and then he answered honestly. “I want to know my daughter,” he admitted. “I kept her hidden and denied myself the pleasure of knowing her because I feared for her. However, if she is a vampire slayer, then she is no easy mark. It is even possible that she can wield a wand and do magic.”

“There have been one or two records of slayers that were witches,” Albus said, nodding. “The Watcher’s Council, though, is very possessive of their slayer.”

“But if Buffy Anne died—even for a short time—shouldn’t their claim on her be over?” Severus asked. “The next slayer should’ve been called at the moment of her death.”

“That is a very good point,” he acknowledged. 

“Joyce asked me if I was coming for a visit, and I found myself saying yes,” Severus shared.

“You are going to the hellmouth?” Albus asked. “That is a dangerous place.”

“My daughter is there, and I can defend myself quite well,” Severus said defensively.

“It has been a long time since you’ve spent time among muggles,” Albus pointed out. “Your daughter may be a slayer, but she is for all intents and purposes a muggle.”

Severus glared at him. “My daughter is _not_ a muggle!” he said hotly. “She is a vampire slayer, a magical creature at the very least and most likely a witch!”

“Would you bring her here for school?” Albus wondered.

“We are in the middle of a war. Do you think it would be wise? I’m a double agent and reputed Death Eater,” he said with self-loathing. “Do you think my daughter who fights creatures of darkness, who is compelled to seek out monsters to kill, would embrace me?”

“You might be surprised,” Albus said. “Give her a chance. Test her and see. If she has magic, she can come and be sorted in a house. If she doesn’t, she is still welcome here.”

Severus didn’t want to dare hope that his daughter could be here with him. “I will arrange a visit and test the waters,” he decided. He stood, his mind filled with what he would need to do to get to the States and California. 

“Severus,” Albus said, getting his attention as he stood. “You do realize that if your daughter comes here, she will most likely be sorted into Gryffindor.” The twinkle in the old man’s eyes caused Severus to glare.

“That thought is not to be born!” he said. Then he stormed out of the office.

After he left, Albus chuckled. He didn’t tell Severus that he learned much more about his daughter. No sense in ruining the surprise. Buffy Anne Summers was not at all a proper slayer as her watcher had reported at the beginning of the school term. However, her ability to adapt and think on her feet had made her a formidable weapon. There was a bit of her father in her, but she was entirely too selfless and brave to ever be a Slytherin.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_So what do you think? I hope you’re excited for more because I have it coming soon! This is a completed story, and I have 8 chapters written already of the sequel. Reviews and kudos are much appreciated. Thanks!_


	2. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the purposes of my story, I am taking liberties with Severus' family details. The books do not say exactly what happened to his mother, and I am writing her in this story as being dead and creating a sister for him.

_******Sunnydale******_

Severus was able to take a portkey out of Scotland to California. It landed him right outside of the city limits. Because of the dark magic from the hellmouth, Albus felt it was best he not try to port so far with all the possible interference. Once he got his bearings, he walked slowly down the road that entered the town. When he crossed into the city limits, he could feel it. The dark pull was both seductive and disturbing to his senses. How could his daughter live and thrive under such darkness?

It was three days after he spoke to Joyce. He hadn't called her to tell her when he was arriving because he knew that she would expect him to come by muggle transportation. Although his daughter was a slayer and in the know about magics and such, Severus was inclined to believe Joyce didn't know what their daughter was. When they had spoken, she gave no indication that she knew Buffy Anne had died the night before.

As he walked, Severus considered all he knew about his daughter and the new things he had learned. He couldn't help but make the connection that the problems Joyce said Buffy Anne had the previous school term coincided with her new calling. Severus speculated that Buffy Anne tried to tell her mother about it, and her mother decided that she was crazy. Or maybe it was the father Hank? Maybe he was the one who insisted doctors check the girl over for instability and mental illness. Severus hadn't realized the doctor they had taken his daughter to was one of those head doctors muggles took such stock in. However, every word Joyce ever said or wrote about their daughter was memorized by him, so he went to an internet café in London and looked it up after Albus' revelation.

Now he knew the picture of his daughter's life wasn't the happy and safe one he had previously thought. The new reality of her life made him seriously consider his actions. Could he in good conscience bring her back to his home? There was a war there, and his daughter would most definitely be a tool the Dark Lord would want to use. It would be a dangerous gamble to bring her into the fold. Not to mention, his daughter was a fighter for the light, and she would probably be appalled at the man her father was. He was a teacher who went out of his way to abuse and humiliate students, playing clear favorites. Although it was true that everything he did was part of the role he played as a double agent, he couldn't deny that he had no patience for fools and idiots. Rarely did he enjoy teaching students who were lazy and indifferent, driven by hormones and easily distracted. Students who loved potions like he did were rare. Would his daughter be ashamed to have him as a father?

The thought consumed him as he walked the few miles into the center of town. Foolishly, he realized his mistake. It was daytime when he left London, but the time difference made it dark in Sunnydale. He was walking alone at night on the hellmouth, a dangerous and foolish pastime. It wasn't a surprise then, when he was accosted by three vampires.

As this was an entirely new experience for him, he felt a strong burst of fear at the two snarling faces. The clear leader looked entirely human. "Well, look at this. Dinner came to us, and we didn't even have to order in," the vampire said.

He managed to set one of them on fire quickly before he was rushed by the other two, and he dropped his wand. Horrified, he watched it roll a few feet away from him. A bored voice called out, "Hey, your homosexual fantasies shouldn't be played out on a public street, loser!"

Severus couldn't believe it. A very attractive young girl was holding a bright orange weapon of some kind and pointing it right at the two vamps.

"Hey, we're not homosexuals. We're vampires about to have dinner!" the one holding his arms protested.

The surrealism of the moment struck Severus, and it increased when the girl moved closer and shot water out of the weapon. What the hell? Water? However, the vampires started screaming and smoking.

"Wow! Giles wasn't lying when he said holy water was the safest weapon for someone that wasn't Buffy," the girl said in bemusement. "Invisible psycho girls trying to kill me, witches trying to steal my spot on the squad and blind me, frat boys trying to feed me to their pet demon, and huge vampires trying to eat me. This town sucks!" She squirted the vampires more, and they released him. Howling in pain the vampires ran off. "But payback is such fun!" She grinned in satisfaction.

The girl looked smug and bent down. "I think you dropped your stake," she said, picking up his wand. "You shouldn't try to stake a vampire by yourself. Not unless you have the strength of that super freak Buffy."

"It's not a stake. That's my wand," he said automatically. Then he winced. Why was he talking to this muggle?

Cordelia Chase grinned at the dark and creepy man. She took in his dark robes and laughed. "Oh, is this your magic wand?" she asked in a mocking tone that offended Severus profusely.

"Please give that to me," he said slowly, holding out his hand.

"Come on! Teach me some magic. What do I have to say? Abracadabra?" she asked as she waved the wand. However, her flick produced a powerful wave of energy, hitting a parked car that started wailing out a blaring noise.

"Oh my God! You weren't kidding!" she screamed, throwing the stick at Severus.

Severus was stunned. The teenager had wizard abilities and clearly didn't realize it. "Thank you," he said. She had, after all, saved his life. Then he realized that she mentioned her daughter's unusual name. "Do you know Buffy Anne Summers?"

"That's her middle name?" the woman said in surprise. "Sure, I know the big freak and her loser friends. It's a school night, and my car is in the shop, so I had to walk back from cheerleading practice, which is a dangerous endeavor in this screwed up town."

"I am Severus Snape. I have her address, but I am unfamiliar with this town. Do you mind pointing me into the right direction? She is expecting me," he said.

"Her house is that way," the girl said, pointing. "But she's at the school, which is just two blocks down that way."

"I did not realize that American schools lasted this late in the day," Severus said.

"Oh, they don't," the girl said. "But she hangs out in the library with Mr. Giles, the British librarian. You sound just like him. Do you know him?"

"No, I do not, but I am from Great Britain," he said.

"Well, come on. I'll walk you to the library. Giles would get really annoyed if I let you get eaten by vamps," she said. "I'm Cordelia."

Severus blinked, the name causing a pang. Finally, he said, "That's a lovely name."

Cordelia gave him a brilliant smile. Would his own daughter look at him with the same bright smile? He followed her and noticed that she remained vigilant.

It didn't take long before he saw a school in the distance and increased his pace, excited to finally meet his daughter. "May I ask what type of weapon you are wielding? I am unfamiliar with it," Severus said.

"Well, Mr. Snape, it is called a super soaker squirt gun. It's used normally by kids to have a water fight," Cordelia said, unfazed by his lack of knowledge. Giles didn't know lots of American things either.

"Yet you found the ingenuity to utilize it with holy water as a weapon to fight vampires? That is most impressive," Severus said, surprised that a muggle would show such intelligence. Of course, her ability to use his wand showed that she was not really a mere muggle.

The young woman flashed him another beaming smile—she did love the compliments. "Thanks! They think I'm helpless 'cause Buffy's needed to save me a time or two, but I'm _so_ not an idiot," Cordelia said with a superior smile.

Knowing that this young woman was a classmate of his daughter made me want to ask so many things, but he could tell by her derisive tone that the two weren't close friends. However, he had to ask, "So you are friends with Buffy Anne?"

"You know she goes by Buffy, right? This isn't the South," Cordelia said, grinning.

"That is the name her mother gave her," he said haughtily. Of course, Anne came from both of Buffy's grandmothers. Joyce's mother and Severus. His mother's middle name was spelled Anne. His younger sister also had the same middle name. He didn't know if Buffy spelled it that way or not, but it is how he thought of her. It gave him a small bit of pleasure that some part of her had a connection to him, no matter how fleeting.

"Some parents have weird ideas. My parents stuck me with the ancient name of Cordelia!" she said. "You are the only person I've ever met to say it was a lovely name."

"Well, most people are idiots," he said.

Cordelia laughed, enjoying the creepy Brit. Maybe he wasn't as creepy as his dark look showed him. "I totally agree!" she said. Then she pulled open the front doors and led him to the library.

Severus became more and more nervous as he followed her into the very large library. The size of it distracted him a moment until Cordelia let out a most annoying bellow.

"Giles! We have a British visitor! He thinks he's a wizard!" she said, revealing the bratty tendency she hinted out earlier. When he started to protest, she winked at him.

Rupert Giles came out of his office. "Must you yell, Cordelia?" he asked, his eyes took in the strange appearance of the guest. The man _was_ dressed in a dark cloak that could be considered a wizard's robe. He had met a few in England long ago.

"This guy almost got eaten looking for Buffy, but I saved him," Cordelia boasted.

Willow looked up from the book she was reading. "What? You saved someone?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep. Holy water in my soaker," Cordelia said, proudly holding it up.

"You mocked me when I suggested holy water bombs to throw," Xander complained.

"Because you'd miss, and the water would be wasted, dweeb," Cordelia said, rolling her eyes. "This, though, is really easy to hit your target with." She demonstrated by shooting Xander in the face, causing him to jump up and knock the chair back. A giggling Cordelia ran out of the library as Xander chased after her.

"Excuse the children," Giles said. "They are Americans."

His reply was so British that Willow laughed, and Severus cracked a smile. "You know who I am?" he asked.

Giles nodded. Then he looked at Willow. "My dear, would you mind calling it a night? Our visitor has business that is personal in nature, and I need to speak with him alone," he said.

"Oh, okay," Willow said. "Should I wait outside for Buffy and tell her?"

"No, this concerns her," Giles said.

Willow's eyes widened as she realized who Severus was. "You look like the portrait Buffy showed me. Are you her father?" she asked.

Severus felt a warm glow that his daughter shared who he was with her friends, and he nodded. "I am Severus Snape," he said.

"I'm Willow, Buffy's best friend," she said. She held out her hand to Severus, and he shook it. Instantly, he felt the girl's magical power.

"You are a witch?" he asked.

Willow's eyes widened. "What? No! I'm not a witch. Witches are bad. I mean Amy's mom was. She tried to kill Buffy and stole her daughter's body. Of course, we used a small spell to identify her, but I'm not anything really. I don't have the power Amy has," she gushed. "It's fascinating, though."

"You have tremendous power. I felt it," he said.

Willow's mouth fell open, and she looked at Giles.

"We will discuss this more tomorrow, Willow. Good night," Giles said dismissively.

When she walked out of the library, Severus said, "She is not the first witch I encountered tonight. Cordelia is also a witch."

Now it was Giles' turn to look flummoxed. "Cordelia? Really? How fascinating and surprising," Giles remarked. "I take it that she wasn't using hyperbole like American teenagers are so fond of. You really _are_ a wizard?"

"I work as a potion master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Severus said. "As you are obviously Buffy's Watcher, I hope you will be discreet on what you share with muggles."

"Xander Harris is your daughter's other best friends. Those kids share everything, so don't expect much secrecy," Giles said. "Buffy has a hard time hiding her light under a bush."

Severus smiled, loving that his daughter shone so bright. When you spend so much time in darkness, the light is ever more appealing. "I do not know how such a creature could be mine, but I would like to know her. The spell I had on her cloaking her presence was shattered when she died," he said.

"Spell? What spell?" a voice asked.

Severus turned and met the eyes of the young girl he knew was his.

She was so much shorter than Severus, tiny like his own mother. Her eyes, though, were light, reminding him sharply of his late sister. As she drew closer to him, stopping just a few feet from him, he knew that the green of their color _was_ exactly like his sister's had been. She had been the only green-eyed member of her family for three generations, but now his daughter had the eyes. Severus could see nothing else of his blood in her. Her coloring and features were mostly like Joyce's. Unlike his own mother, Buffy Anne did not get the family nose. This made him smile.

"Hello, Buffy Anne," he said.

Buffy looked at the tall man, who seemed the opposite of Hank Summers in every way. He was intense and not really handsome. However, his broody intensity reminded her sharply of Angel's.

"Hi," she said. "You're my bio dad, right?"

The title caused a sharp pain inside of him, but he nodded. That was all he was to her.

Buffy saw the pain that he masked so quickly and frowned. He ignored her for sixteen years, so why did he care suddenly?

"So what spell did you do? You're a witch?" Buffy asked.

"Wizard," he said.

"Right 'cause nothing in my life is allowed to be normal," Buffy said with a touch of bitterness.

"I am sorry," Severus said.

"For what? Never bothering to know me for sixteen years? That's okay, Hank Summers has been a wonderful dad to me," Buffy said with a shrug.

"How about we all sit and discuss this?" Giles suggested, coming around to the large table Willow and Xander had been sitting at. He sat at the nearest head, and Severus sat on his left. Buffy sat across from him, looking at him intently.

"I did not contact you because it hasn't been safe," he said. "When I found out your mother was pregnant, I was seventeen. My younger sister disappeared soon after your mother left. Her disappearance caused all kinds of suffering in my family, destroying my mother. Joyce met your father Hank before you were born and seemed extremely happy with him in her life. What place could I have had? Should I confuse a young child with my presence? It is difficult for wizards to interact with muggles."

"What's a muggle?" Buffy asked.

"A person who lives in the regular world without magic," Severus said.

"Did you find your sister? How old was she?" Buffy asked, curious about a relative of hers that she didn't know.

"She was sixteen and not a witch, but she was unusually attractive for the people in my family—like you," Severus said. "You have her eyes."

Buffy blushed at the compliment and looked down at her hands, feeling shy. Then she wondered, "Did you find your sister?"

"Yes. She was murdered by a muggle," he said bitterly. "The man who did it held her hostage for several months before throwing her body in the river." Her death by a muggle was what had pushed him to embrace Voldemort and take the dark mark. He had flirted with it when Lily embraced Potter, but he gave himself over to the darkness when his sister was taken from him. It was only after Lily was murdered that he realized how far he'd fallen. Voldemort wasn't any better than the muggle her murdered his sister.

Buffy gasped in horror. "Oh God! That's horrible! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed.

Severus was not normally the kind of man to confide in anyone, but he wanted his daughter to accept him. He found himself wanting to share who he was with her—to be open. Not only did he not think he could bear her rejection, it wasn't safe for her to either. Although he found the presence of her Watcher annoying, he knew that Buffy Anne trusted the man. It was important that she trust him, too. "By the time things settled down, your mother was married to Hank Summers. I was barely an adult and didn't know how I would be a part of your life," Severus admitted. "Your mother sent me photos when you were born and then did so ever year. I was content with that. I thought maybe when you were older I might reach out, but then things became very dangerous in my world. I became a tool in our war, and I was afraid. When you were just a few years old, the head of my school helped me cast a cloaking spell to conceal your presence from my family tree. There were people in my life—Dark Wizards—who could use you as a way to get to me. I wanted to protect you. Your death a few days ago broke the spell."

Buffy's head felt like it was going to explode with all her father told her. Finding out she had a whole new family was a lot to take in. Knowing that some of her new family had been violated in such a gruesome manner pissed her off. "I drowned for a minute, but my friend Xander gave me CPR and brought me back," she said.

"I owe him a debt," Severus said, never believing he'd feel indebted to a muggle.

"He's pretty great. He's completely normal, but he wants to help me fight the monsters that live in this town," Buffy said. "He and Willow used to have a different best friend, whose name was Jesse. He was taken by some vamps my first week here. I couldn't save him before he was turned, and Xander ended up slaying him."

Severus winced, feeling sympathy—a foreign feeling for him. These children were fighting in their own war except they fought every day. He glared at Rupert Giles. "I cannot believe you let powerless children fight in battle," he said.

Buffy was loyal to an extreme degree and did not take kindly to anyone criticizing her Watcher. "Giles can't stop my friends! They have just as much right to protect themselves and help protect others as anyone else. This is their home. It was long before it was mine. They were born here," she said.

"Is that true of your friend Cordelia?" he asked.

"I wouldn't exactly call her my friend. She's mean to Willow and thinks she's better than everyone," Buffy said. "I was exactly like her before I was called. But yes, as far as I know she was born here. Or started kindergarten here. Xander and Willow have hated her for a long time."

Severus hadn't exactly detected hate from Xander as he chased after Cordelia, but teenagers were often driven by their hormones. "The hellmouth produces a lot of dark energy. It's probably why she and your friend Willow were never invited to one of the American schools of witchcraft and wizardry. Normally, they're invited by age eleven," he explained.

"Seriously? Cordy's a witch? That explains a lot!" Buffy said smugly.

Severus didn't like the implied insult and couldn't resist saying, "You probably are one, too, you know."

"What?" Buffy asked, shocked. "I'm not magic girl. I'm hit-in-face-with-my-fist girl!"

Her manner of speaking was so peculiar, and he looked at Giles. "Do all American teenagers speak thus?" he asked.

"I'm afraid that Southern Californians have their own way of speaking that is painful to the ears," Giles said.

Buffy grinned. "It makes Giles nuts!" she agreed.

"Buffy, I'm going to head home. How about you take Severus home with you? I'm sure your mother would want him to stay on your couch rather than an unsafe hotel room," Giles suggested.

"How about he stay with you?" Buffy said. "Mom doesn't know about the supernatural, and Severus looks exactly like what he is."

Severus didn't know if he should be offended, but he did want to speak further with Mr. Giles. "I would like to speak to you, sir, about a great many things," Severus said.

Giles nodded. "Okay. Why don't you both walk to the diner across from my apartment? It's open for two more hours," Giles suggested. "Spend some time getting acquainted. I will call your mother and let her know that Mr. Snape is in town."

"Professor," Severus corrected. "Mr. Snape sounds strange. It's professor."

Giles gave him a small smile. "I'm actually Dr. Giles, but these informal teenagers normally just call me Giles," he said.

Severus gave Buffy a disapproving look, but she just smiled. "Hey! I'm an American! Not some uptight Brit, and I figure once you save a person's life, you can call them whatever you want!" his cheeky daughter said.

She stood up and gave Giles' shoulder a fond squeeze. "Thanks, _Doctor_ Giles. We'll see you later," she said. Then she turned to her father. "Are you coming, Professor?" The emphasis on his title made Severus grit his teeth, but he rose to his feet.

"Thank you, Dr. Giles. My school is out for the summer, so I do have time to linger in town," he said, shaking the watcher's hand before leaving with his daughter.

Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about Severus being in town or how it might upset her dad, who raised and loved her all her life. Did she call this man Dad, too? It was all so confusing.

They walked out of the school in silence with Severus keeping pace with her. "So how long have you been with the magic?" Buffy asked.

"Do you mean how long have I been a wizard?" Severus asked, raising his eyebrow.

"That's what I said," Buffy said, giving him a cheeky green.

"You are going to be incorrigible, aren't you?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Absolutely," Buffy said smugly. "Adults either adore me or hate me. Principal Snyder is all about the hating of the Buffy."

Severus looked at her in bemusement, knowing that Albus would adore her. "The headmaster at our school—it's what we call our principal—would adore you. He loves incorrigible students the most, I believe," Severus confessed, thinking of the Weasley twins and Potter.

"I want to hear all about your school," Buffy said.

"I'd rather hear about you," Severus said.

"My life isn't that special. I mean, sure, I'm the slayer. I kill vamps and prevent the end of the world sometimes," she said. "I burned down my high school gym in Los Angeles, fighting a group of vampires. The master vamp killed my first watcher—I got expelled. My parents committed me when I told them I was a vampire slayer."

Severus frowned, not liking the reminder that Joyce had glossed over some important details in your letter. "She said you were have difficulty and had a doctor check you over," he said. "She took you to a hospital for the criminally insane?" He had been raised by a muggle father, so he did know more than many wizards about the muggle world.

Buffy could sense his anger, but she didn't want him upset with her mom. "They didn't know what to think. I went from being like Cordelia—vapid and self-involved to running around with this guy named Pike, who was my slaying friend at the time. Students saw me fighting vampires and saving their lives, but they did what humans do—explained it away. It's how normal people cope," she explained. "My parents had to cope the best way they could. I stopped talking about vampires and my destiny, so I was allowed to go home. It was the worst three weeks of my life."

Although he'd researched the hospital Joyce sent her to online, Severus still couldn't believe that Joyce had done that to their daughter. "You didn't get a chance to prove to them you spoke the truth?" he asked.

"What was the point? My trouble basically blew up their marriage. Finding out I was telling the truth only would have made it worse for them, especially my mom," Buffy said with a shrug.

"In my world, parents are sent letters at age eleven, inviting students to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he shared. "My father was like Hank, not magical. My mother was from a prominent family that mostly disowned her for marrying a muggle."

"I guess that isn't done, huh? Like marrying beneath her?" Buffy guessed.

Severus nodded. "Yes. I don't know what attracted her to my father because he was a miserable and mean drunk," he said.

"I think that's how Xander's dad is," Buffy admitted. "He doesn't say much 'cause he jokes. But sometimes I get the feeling that there's some truth behind his jokes."

"Most likely," he agreed. "My time at school was mostly good. There were some bullies. My family wasn't wealthy like many of the other students."

"I hate bullies," Buffy said. "Willow was always bullied by the Cordettes. They mostly stopped since I've been here because they're afraid of me."

"Cordettes?" he asked.

"Cordelia and her group of stuck up bitches," Buffy said. "Excuse my language, but Willow is the sweetest, most selfless person I've ever met. Like Xander, she wants to help me just because she can. I try to keep them out of it because I'm afraid for them, but they're determined to help me. I didn't know friends could be like that. Pike was like that, but he was a guy who had a thing for me. Willow's just a girl who is my friend. I won't let any of them bully her. I'm sure they try sometimes, but Cordelia told everyone I knew gang members, so they're intimidated by me."

"Cordelia seems to know about vampires," Severus said, surprised. "In fact, I was being attacked by three when I came into town, and she saved me with her toy gun filled with holy water."

Buffy looked surprised. "Really? Well, the girl is full of surprises. She was really nice to me when I first came here, but when I walked away from her popular clique, she decided I was just a freak," she shared.

"No one likes rejection," Severus pointed out.

"There's the diner," Buffy said, pointing.

She took him into the small diner that reminded him a bit of the Leaky Cauldron. He sat across from her in a booth, feeling nervous again. When the server came up to them, Severus ordered a cup of tea.

Buffy shook her head. "Don't do that. If you're British like Giles is, you'll just be upset," she said. "How about a hot chocolate or coffee?"

"What are you having?" he asked.

"Hot chocolate, of course!" she said, grinning. "Lots of whipped cream."

"Make that two," he said, deciding it would be simpler. His daughter gave him an approving smile.

"Giles would totally never drink that!" she said happily.

"I am sure that your Watcher and I are very different," he said.

"Maybe. But the people from the land of tweed are very different from Americans," she said.

"True, but I do not own a single piece of tweed," he informed, causing her to smile that dazzling smile of hers.

"Maybe there's hope for you after all," she said. The waitress came back with their hot chocolate.

Both stirred in the whipped cream, making it sweet. Buffy felt pleased that her bio dad drank his cocoa like she did. What else did they have in common?

"So do you really think I might have magic inside me?" she asked.

"Well, as a slayer you are considered a magical creature," he said. "But you have a fifty percent chance of inheriting my magical abilities."

"Cool," Buffy said. "A slayer with magical powers has to be harder to kill, right?"

Severus didn't like the knowledge that his daughter lived such a dangerous life. "You know the head of my school contacted your Watcher's Council. Your death was long enough to call another slayer," he said. "Your duty to this hellmouth could be over if that's what you wanted."

Buffy's eyes widened in dismay. "I can give up being a slayer?" she asked, the idea both tempting and disturbing.

"You will always be a slayer. Your powers are yours," he said. "But your duty to this hellmouth could be over if that's what you wanted."

"I'm a slayer. Darkness and bad things are drawn to me," she said.

He nodded. "Here they are. If you were at my school, the magic from it would shield your presence," he said. As soon as he found out that another slayer had been activated, he thought of getting her away from this very dangerous place. Although the war with Voldemort and his role as a double agent would make life dangerous for her, it would not be a nightly war. He'd be on hand to protect her. Of course, she, too, would be able to grow in her power. He hadn't tested her yet, but he knew that she had magic, not just slayer ability. There was too much energy coming from her. Like Willow, she was brimming with power.

"You want me to live with you in England? Leave my mom?" she asked.

"Do you think your mother would consider leaving this town? It's a dangerous place," he pointed out.

Buffy was silent as she contemplated his words. To not have to slay every day was a dream come to true. Balancing her home life with slaying was so hard sometimes. Her mother didn't know anything about her life. Going to a magic school would be so cool, but she couldn't leave Willow. Her friend needed her. "I can't leave Willow," she said flatly.

Severus was surprised that was her main objection and proceeded to play his ace. "Your friend Willow is a witch. Her potential is so great that I could feel it when I shook her hand," he said. "I am sure we can get her a spot at Hogwarts even though she is American."

"Really?" Buffy said.

Severus nodded. "We have to tell your mother the truth, however," he said. "I'm not going to deceive her. She is your mother and deserves the truth."

"I tried to give her the truth," Buffy said.

"Dr. Giles and I will speak with her, and then you will give her a demonstration of your strength. I'll show her a bit of magic," he said.

"What if she freaks and does something crazy?" Buffy asked, scared at the thought. "She could keep me from seeing you or Giles. She could send me to live with my dad in L.A."

Severus frowned, having a hard time picturing Joyce, the young, sweet girl he knew behaving so irrationally. "Your mother loves you," he said.

"I know," Buffy said. "But fear makes people act wonky. Finding out about the supernatural normally inspires fear."

"Do you want to live your life on a hellmouth, fighting every day for your life and constantly having to save others?" he asked.

"I like saving people. It's what I do," she said with a shrug.

Severus had a sinking feeling that his daughter was a bleeding Gryffindor just like Albus suggested. What would they all think when it became known that he, the head of Slytherin house, had created a daughter that was pure Gryffindor?

***** _To Be Continued******_

_Snape's chattiness is a bit out of character, but I figure that in this story he'd really work to make a connection to his daughter. As you can see this story won't just be about Buffy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got so caught up editing through the chapters, I didn't realize I hadn't posted another chapter! Leave a kudos or a comment if you enjoyed this. Thanks so much!


	3. Revelations

_*****The Next Day******_

Rupert Giles did have a guest room, but it was full of books. Severus didn't think he'd ever seen so many books outside of a library. He loved books himself, but his daughter's Watcher had more than Severus had. There was a small bed that Rupert called a daybed in the corner, however. Severus was too anxious to sleep well, but he eventually managed to fall asleep.

When he awoke, he smelled bacon. He used a refresher spell to clean up and stepped out of the room. If he was going to stay much longer, he would have to obtain some muggle clothes. He didn't want to embarrass his daughter by wearing the same outfit day after day. After going to the bathroom, he joined Rupert in the kitchen.

He was very glad that the man knew how to make a good cup of tea. "This is exactly what I needed," he said.

"Yes, American do not care much for tea—at least not hot tea. They enjoy iced tea in parts of the country," Rupert shared.

They ate breakfast in companionable silence. Finally, Severus said, "Have you heard about the new slayer?"

"What?" Giles asked.

"The head of my order contacted a wizard that works for the council, and he discovered that there was a new slayer activated," Severus said. "The slayer line no longer goes through Buffy Anne."

"Really? How fascinating! I do not think such a thing has ever happened," Giles said, lost in thought.

Severus could see that he was losing the watcher, and he continued, "Don't you think that Buffy Anne deserves another possible destiny than life on a hellmouth?"

Giles was startled and looked at him in surprise. "You want to take her back to England?" he asked, getting to the point.

"I would like her to consider something besides slaying every day," he said.

"You know your daughter will always be a slayer," Giles said.

Severus nodded. "I know, but she might also be a wizard," he replied.

Giles looked bemused as he considered the possibility. "A slayer with magical abilities is extremely rare," he said.

"Imagine how formidable she would be," Severus said. He knew that this man was important to his daughter and that he should not alienate him. Instead, he should get the man on his side. He was a Slytherin, after all, so it should be an easy thing to do.

"Yes," Giles said as he considered the implications.

"Buffy Anne does not know me, but I would like to get to know her," he said. "But I must tell you what has been going on in my world." The he proceeded to tell Rupert all about Voldemort and the ugliness of his world. He left out his own direct role, wanting to tell his daughter himself.

Giles listened with rapt attention. There had been rumors when he was younger that his father dismissed about a magical community. For a time, Giles tried to find some evidence of it. Then he became distracted by his demonology studies and all the trouble that brought. To witness a world that most other watchers didn't know existed would be an incredible experience. To have his slayer learn how to use magic would make her the most powerful slayer in history. She already was showing signs of being one of the best by breaking a prophecy at age sixteen.

"Do you see Buffy going to your school?" Giles asked.

Severus nodded. "I would test her to confirm that she can use a wand like I suspect," he said.

"I can't really see her leaving her mom or friends," Giles said. "England is far away."

"My school is actually in Scotland," he said.

"Really?" Giles said in interest. "I have not spent much time in Scotland, but I do have a great aunt that used to live there. I believe my family has property there somewhere."

"If two of her friends received invitations to Hogwarts, do you think she would be willing to go?" he asked.

"I do not think Xander has any magical abilities," Giles said.

"I was referring to Cordelia and Willow, of course," Severus replied.

"Cordelia is more like your daughter's nemesis," Giles said.

"Nevertheless, she is familiar to your daughter, and I could see that Willow thirsts for knowledge," he said.

"That's true. She is a brilliant girl," Giles remarked.

"We have to speak to Joyce," Severus said. "She must be made to know what her daughter is and about my world."

"She did not handle things well when Buffy was first called," he said.

"I cannot believe that the woman I knew would behave so irrationally. Buffy Anne can easily prove how strong she is," Severus said. "It had to be her husband who didn't like seeing his little girl be anything but what he thought her to be."

"That is quite astute," Giles said, surprised by his observation.

"Joyce owns an art studio, right?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Giles said.

"Scotland could use a good art studio," he said. "Or Hogwarts could use a new art teacher."

Giles mind filled with all the possibilities. To help be a part of training his slayer in a new world—at least for her—would be exciting. His watcher chronicles would be much sought after as he would be the first Council trained watcher to form such connections.

"It is an exciting possibility," he said. "Buffy already broke a prophecy by dying and coming back to life. This would be a new chapter in her life."

"Defying a prophecy is very rare, indeed," Severus said, impressed with his daughter. "My daughter is extraordinary."

"That she is," Giles agreed. "We would have to get the new watcher to come to the hellmouth. It cannot remain unguarded."

"Buffy Anne can return easily enough if a situation requires her presence," Severus suggested.

"Yes," Giles said, nodding.

"I think as I am a stranger to my daughter, you might bring up this possibility to her first," Severus pointed out.

"She can be quite stubborn like most Americans," Giles said with a fond smile.

"I am not a good man," Severus said. "I've made many mistakes that I regret, but I would give anything to be able to know my daughter."

Giles gave the man a considering look, his words unsettling. However, enough sharing had been had for now. "She is quite fond of Hank Summers," Giles informed him.

"I am aware," Severus said.

"He may protest her moving so far," Giles added.

"We will tell him it's an exclusive prep school for exceptional students. Most Americans like to brag about their offspring, correct?"

"I believe that's a favorite pastime of all parents," Giles said, smiling.

"If her mother will accompany her, his concerns might be alleviated," he said.

"What if he wants to visit the school? He is well off from what Buffy has indicated," Giles said.

"We will worry about that when it occurs," Severus said. "If he must learn the truth, then so be it."

Giles' doorbell rang, and he got up to answer it. It was Buffy.

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted. "I'm still wigged out that I have another dad who is from the land of tweed and tea."

Giles gave his slayer a fond smile. "Did you tell your mother he was here?" he asked as Buffy came in.

Severus was happy to see her so soon and gave her a warm good morning.

"Yes," Buffy said. She looked at her father. "She wants you to join us for dinner."

Severus nodded, nervous at the thought of seeing his first lover. "That will be nice," he said.

"So what do I call you?" Buffy asked. "Dad seems too weird but so does Severus or Snape. Sevvie? That's kind of cool!"

Severus looked horrified, and Giles grinned. "It's nice to see someone besides myself suffer from these horrendous nicknames. Xander frequently refers to me as 'G-Man,'" he shared.

"In Great Britain, it is quite common to call one's father that instead of dad," Severus said.

"You mean call you Father?" Buffy said, not sure how she felt about that.

"Or you may call me Severus," he quickly added.

"I can try it," Buffy said. "But prepared for the _Star War_ cracks."

Severus looked mystified and looked to Giles for help.

"That is a popular American movie," Giles explained.

"There's that line, ' _Luke, I am your father,'_ by Darth Vader that is very famous," Buffy said with a cheeky grin.

Severus had a feeling that he would spend a lot of time confused by his daughter.

"Buffy, I think you should allow your father to see if you are capable of performing wand magic," Giles said.

"Really? Can a slayer actually do magic?" Buffy asked, intrigued.

"It's never happened as far I know," Giles admitted. "I will need to consult my books."

Buffy grinned. "It's not yet noon, and you've uttered your favorite words!" she said, giving her watcher an amused look.

"As I am a wizard, and you are a magical creature, it makes sense that you would be able to wield magic," Severus said to her.

"Cool," Buffy said. "Always good to have a new skill to kill the baddies."

Severus was startled at her frankness and glanced at Giles.

Giles understood Severus' discomfort with his daughter's frank embrace of violence and said, "A slayer is driven to seek out evil and destroy it. Darkness is drawn to her."

"That means vamps love to die upon my stake!" Buffy said proudly.

Severus looked bemused but nodded. He pulled out his wand. "This is the wand that your friend Cordelia was able to wield," he shared.

"What? Cordy has the magic?" she asked.

"He mentioned it last night," Giles reminded her.

"You said she was a witch, and I agreed. You didn't say she got to play with your wand," Buffy said. Then she blushed as she realized how naughty that sound. "I meant that in a completely platonic way!"

Severus looked confused yet again while Giles smiled, but he decided he didn't want to continue to question her remark. Instead, he handed her his wand.

Buffy instinctively held it like a stake. "Bet I could stake a lot of vamps with this. Its wood is solid," she remarked, throwing some mock plunges.

"No, you don't hold it like that!" Severus said, appalled.

Buffy frowned at his sharp tone. "Gee, sorry! Newbie in the magic world, remember?" she reminded him.

"Newbie?" Severus asked, confused. How did he manage to have a daughter who barely spoke the King's English?

"Just hold it like this," Giles said, showing her with a pencil.

Severus nodded. "Yes. It's not your wand, so it won't react perfectly with you. In fact, it can cause destruction with anyone but me," he said.

"Destruction?" Giles asked in concern for his books.

"I can fix any damages," Severus assured him.

Buffy felt silly waving a little stick around, but she did it with gusto. Her eyes widened as a wave of colored sparkles came out of the stick, and then they exploded with a loud bang.

"Wow!" she said in awe.

Severus was a bit surprised that his wand responded so well for her. "You could probably use my wand," he said. "That's unusual, but not impossible in a parent-child relationship. A wand is made for one wielder, but close bloodlines can often wield it, too."

"So that is confirmation that Buffy is a witch?" Giles asked.

"If she wasn't, nothing would happen when she waved the wand," he said.

"Willow and Xander need to totally give it a whirl!" Buffy said excitedly.

"Willow doesn't need to," Severus said. "Her magical aura is so strong that I can sense it."

"Really? That's so great!" Buffy exclaimed.

"It is doubtful that Xander has any ability," Giles said.

"Are you gonna stick around and teach us how to do the magic?" Buffy asked.

Severus hesitated a moment before replying, "I was hoping you would consider joining me at my school for witches and wizards."

"Have a seat, Buffy, and we can discuss it," Giles said, gesturing to his furniture.

Buffy was in shock at her father's words. "Leave the hellmouth? Are you serious? I can't leave, right, Giles?" she asked, turning to Giles.

"I have not confirmed it yet, but your father says his contacts at the Council claim another slayer has been called," Giles said. "You were dead long enough for that to happen."

Buffy didn't know if she could handle anymore surprises. Leaving the hellmouth? Could she do it? She looked to her Watcher for direction.

"I will talk to the Council and find out who the new slayer is and request that they send her here so that you may study magic," he said.

"You wouldn't have to give up being a slayer entirely," Severus assured her. He didn't want to give her any reason to say no. "We have a dark forest full of dark creatures outside the school that you may get permission to patrol. Your Watcher would continue to be your Watcher and train you."

"You'd come with me?" Buffy asked, looking at Giles.

"Of course," Giles said. "Until the Council fires me or you want to be rid of me, I'm not going anywhere."

Buffy gave him a big smile. "But what about Mom? She'd freak. Learning I'm a slayer will be a lot for her to take in. I'm not sure she could handle anything more," she said.

"There's no rush," Giles said. "We'll have the conversation with her tomorrow. Let her get reacquainted with Severus today. Then I will come see you tomorrow evening."

Buffy looked up at her father. "Do you mind if we hang out at lunch in a few hours? I'll come back, but I need to talk to Willow," she said.

Severus was disappointed but nodded. "Of course," he said.

"Thanks," Buffy said, jumping up and practically running out the door.

"I guess I should be glad that she is considering it," Severus said.

"Yes," Giles said, nodding. "I am sure that she wishes to discuss the new possibility with her friends. If you will excuse me, I'm going to call the Council." They were eight hours ahead, so plenty of people should be up and around.

Severus was left to his own devices but didn't mind. He had a lot to contemplate.

****** _Willow's******_

Buffy had just finished telling Willow her news.

"You might leave Sunnydale?" Willow asked, her eyes wide in alarm.

"Maybe. I mean, wouldn't it be cool to go to a magic school? He says that he will try to get Mom to go with us, so Dad won't get so upset," Buffy said.

"But that's so far, Buffy! I'll never get to see you!" Willow protested.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? My father says that you have a very powerful magical aura, and that you are a witch, too," Buffy said. "And Cordelia."

"Really? I'm a witch?" Willow asked excitedly. Then she frowned. "Cordelia? Seriously?"

"Severus said that she picked up his dropped wand and used it, which is how you prove for sure that a person is a witch," Buffy explained. "Sparkly waves came out of it when I touched it."

"But I didn't do that," Willow said, frowning.

"Sev says that your power is so obvious that you didn't need to," Buffy said, grinning.

Willow's eyes widened. "I have power?" she said in bemusement.

"Yep," Buffy said. "Do you think your parents would let you go with me to this school?"

Willow's excitement at the thought was obvious. "Seriously? You think they'd want me, too?" she asked.

"My father works at the school, so I'm sure he has some pull," Buffy said.

"That would be so neat!" she gushed. "Of course, I'd have to tell Mom that it's an exclusive boarding school. She's probably be happy to be rid of the responsibility of me."

Buffy frowned. "Hey, don't say that. Your parents love you. They just trust you to take care of yourself," she said.

Willow nodded. "I know they love me, but I'm not a priority with them or all that important," she said with a shrug. "It's okay. I've accepted it. Now, though, their indifference might work in my favor."

"Giles said that I'm like the first slayer to also be a witch!" Buffy said excitedly.

Willow grinned, and then a thought occurred to her. "What about Xander? We can't leave him, Buffy!" she protested, upset at the thought.

Buffy knew that both of them leaving him would be upsetting. He didn't have Jesse now, so he depended on them more than ever. "Maybe he is a wizard, too," Buffy suggested.

Willow nodded. "Maybe. I mean, it is possible that living on the hellmouth all our lives makes us more magical than the average person or something," she said.

"Let's hope," Buffy said.

"If not, maybe he could still go with us, and stay with Giles or something," Willow said. "Train to be a watcher."

The girls were hopeful and decided to go talk to their favorite guy friend after Willow got dressed for the day.

Xander, of course, was happy that his girls might have super powers. "That's double super powers for the Buffster!" he said, grinning.

"Cordelia's a witch, too," Buffy said.

Xander looked suitably horrified, causing the girls to giggle.

The two girls decided not to upset him by mentioning a possible leaving until things were settled. Buffy's mother was a huge obstacle anyway.

***** _The Next Day*****_

Buffy woke up, her mind full of all the things that had occurred the day before. Her father was so different from Giles and seemed so lonely. Buffy knew that he was mystified by her, but he seemed to enjoy her chatter. Dinner with him and her mom was good. Joyce seemed anxious and a bit awkward at first. Then they started reminiscing about her two weeks, and Severus told her what was the same and different. When her mother said she'd love a chance to go back to England, her father had said that maybe she could visit Scotland where his school was located. Buffy had been happy to note that her mom seemed please at the suggestion.

Her father, however, didn't mention anything magical, waiting until she learned about Buffy's destiny the next day.

Today was the day. Her life with her mother would never be the same. Either she would accept her or be horrified.

She met her friends at the library with Severus. The day before, her dad mentioned that he needed to buy some muggle clothes, so she went shopping with him before dinner. He bought three new outfits. Of course, he would only buy black slacks. However, she did get him to buy a dark green and dark blue shirt besides the black silk. Buffy convinced him to lose the robe for dinner and wear the green to dinner with her mom. He'd even agreed to put his hair back into a pony tail. Buffy figured that she'd get him to get a hair cut by the end of the summer.

Grinning in anticipation, she opened the library doors. Her father was wearing the black silk today, but his hair was hanging down.

"You know, Father, we have got to do something about your hair!" Buffy said in way of greeting.

Severus looked up, smiling at his daughter. He didn't know that in such a short time he could grow so attached to someone so completely different from himself. She was the antithesis of a Slytherin even more than the Weasley clan. Her sense of fun when she was with Xander reminded him strongly of the Weasley twins, and he would stare at her in confusion and wonder. Most of the time, she was incomprehensible to him. However, she was so full of light and love that he couldn't help but be enraptured by her generosity of spirit. How did such a miracle come from him he did not know, but he was grateful for her, nonetheless.

His daughter was going to shake the foundation of Hogwarts, and he couldn't wait.

"I like my hair," he said sternly.

"You're not a Bond villain or a vampire, Sev," she said. "Not to mention, your hair is so Woodstocky that it's begging to be cut!"

"It's Severus or Father," he corrected her with a glare.

"I'll call you Father all the time if you will let me take you to a good barber!" Buffy said with a grin. Maybe she wouldn't have to wait until the end of the summer to wear him down.

"Are you trying to manipulate me?" he asked, impressed. That was not a Gryffindor quality.

"Is it working?" she asked, unashamed.

Pride to see her behave more like him had him give her a small smile. "Maybe," he acknowledged.

"Buffy, I talked to Travers. He is excited to have a slayer with a connection to the Wizarding Community. It seems that for decades the Council has tried and failed to establish a connection," Giles said, coming out of his office.

"So he'd let me go?" Buffy asked.

Giles nodded, pleased. "Yes, he has authorized both of us going to Scotland, and the new slayer and her watcher will be here soon," he said. For him, going home and still being a Watcher to an active slayer was a dream come true—he was very happy with the newest developments.

Buffy clapped. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "Where are they coming from?"

"Jamaica," Giles said.

"Really? That's cool!" she said. "I'd love a chance to train with someone that can keep up with me. Angel isn't really down with the training."

"Angel? Who is that?" Severus asked.

Buffy grimaced as she realized her slip. Her father would not be happy to know about her budding romance with Angel—she knew it without asking.

"Oh, well, he's this vampire with a soul that helps us out sometimes," Buffy said. "He's the one who warned us about the Master and gave me info."

"You have a vampire aiding you?" Severus asked, disturbed by the news.

"Angel has been quite helpful," Giles said, catching his slayer's pleading look. "He has quite a bit of knowledge of ancient text and prophecy."

"I'll introduce you to him before you leave, so you won't be so worried about my associates," Buffy assured him.

"I'm sure you can handle yourself just fine," Severus said.

"Angel is a good man," Buffy said. She looked at Giles. "Do you think we can get the new slayer to not slay Angel but let him help her the way he's helped me?"

"I will talk to her watcher," Giles said. He knew Buffy cared for Angel and that Angel was trying to redeem himself for his pre-souled actions. The man did deserve a chance to continue fighting the good fight. If they all left town, the new slayer could use some help. Giles now understand the value in allowing the slayer to have others aiding her.

Xander and Willow came bouncing into the room. "So I'm here," Xander said, rubbing his hands. "Time to prove whether or not I'm just a pathetic muggle or not." Severus had used the word the day before, and the teens had found great fun in overusing the world—much to Severus annoyance. They seemed to take great pleasure in irritating him.

"We'll love you in your muggleness!" Willow said, hugging him.

"That's right! You can be our muggle mascot!" Buffy said with a wink.

"We're so down with the muggles!" Willow said.

"We love muggles!"

"Muggles rules the world—at least America," Willow added.

"Once you go muggle, you never go back," Buffy said, causing her friends to burst into laughter.

"Okay, I think Severus and I are in agreement when I say, _stop using that confounding word_!" Giles exclaimed.

The three teens laughed even more, enjoying their distress.

"Cheeky buggers," Severus muttered.

"Seriously, Father, are we going to test Xander today or what? Willow thinks that living on the hellmouth might give them more of a magical core than we suspect," Buffy said. "Even Xander."

"I think they're nuts, but I don't want to be abandoned by my girls," Xander said.

Both the girls put their arms around their waist, hugging him. Severus knew how close the three were, and he did hope that Xander Harris had some magical ability. The young man had saved his daughter's life, so for that reason alone, Severus wished him well.

He handed the young man his wand. "Take the wand and flick it with your wrist," he said.

All of them were dumbfounded by the explosion that put a hole through the nearby bookshelf, knocking Xander on his butt from the force of the explosion.

"Well, I guess that answers that," Giles said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.

Xander looked a bit freaked out as he stood up. "Man, Giles, I'm so sorry! I killed the books!" he exclaimed.

"I can fix that," Severus said, grabbing back his wand and uttering the repair word.

The Scoobies were impressed with how magically the books and the shelves fixed themselves.

"Wow! It's like magic!" Xander said, impressed.

Severus was eying the dark-haired boy with interest. "Do you have family in England?" he asked.

Xander shrugged. "Not to my knowledge," he said.

"The hellmouth does hide magical signatures," Severus said. "I believe it is why the American Wizardry never located any of you."

"But I haven't been here a full year even," Buffy said.

"The spell on you cloaked you," Severus said.

"That might explain why the Council never identified you as a potential and had you trained an at early age as is custom," Giles remarked.

"I'm so going to miss the muggle that I used to be," Xander said in mock sorrow. Predictably, his friends laughed while the adults glared at him.

"So what should we do today?" Buffy asked.

"We totally should drive to Los Angeles and make him see the sights!" Xander suggested.

"That'll take too long," Buffy said.

"Why don't we do some training?" Giles suggested.

"That's not fun for Will and me," Xander pouted.

"I don't believe it's my job to make things fun for you, Xander," Giles said pointedly.

Severus was liking Buffy's Watcher more and more. The man was a bit too loose with his students in Severus' opinion, fostering disrespect, but they clearly adored the man. Maybe there was something to be said for using a loser hand. He did know when to put a stop to their antics, and they mostly listened.

"How about Severus give us a lesson on something?" Willow asked, eagerly.

"What do you teach at the magic school?" Xander asked.

"I teach potions," he said.

Willow's eyes lit up. "Is that like chemistry? 'Cause we used a potion to find out that Amy was a witch," she said. "I love chemistry!"

"I suspect that I could teach you something," Severus said. "However, I doubt you have a cauldron here."

Willow looked horrified. "You use cauldrons? Talk about stereotyping!" she protested.

"That's hilarious!" Xander said, snickering. "I bet you fly around on brooms, too."

"Actually, our most popular sport, Quidditch is done on brooms," Severus said.

And the surprises kept coming.

A few hours later, Severus looked at the mess in the chemistry lab the students dragged him into. While Buffy was with Giles, he attempted to teach Willow and Xander a simple potion for sleeping. Willow's was perfect, and she flushed with his approval. Xander, however, managed to blow up the beaker.

Willow was giggling about it when they had lunch together later at the Double Meat Palace. Severus did not like the place at all, but he went with the kids while Giles went home. Unfortunately for him, the horrid fast food place was next to a hair salon.

"Please, Father," Buffy begged, grabbing his hand and giving him a pleading look. "Let me get rid of that excess hair!"

Severus could tell that his hair meant a lot more to her than it did to him, and since he had given her nothing for sixteen years, he found he was unable to deny her request. "Fine," he said in resignation. Her look of joy and excitement at his capitulation made him bear the sacrifice with little complaint.

When Severus came over to dinner for the second day in a row, Joyce was taken back by the change in his appearance. "Wow," she said, startled. "You look so different."

"I hope the change isn't unpleasant," he said coolly. He'd been put down so much for his appearance over the years that he couldn't help but be a bit defensive.

"I think you look handsome," Joyce said, giving him a warm smile. She greeted Rupert, and the men stepped in.

"Hey," Buffy said when they walked into the living room with her mother. "Doesn't my father look amazing without all that hair and his new clothes?"

"Yes, he does," Joyce said, smiling. "Can I get you guys something to drink? A glass of wine? Tea? Water?"

"Some water would be fine," Giles said, not comfortable with drinking in front of his charge.

"No, thanks. I am fine," Severus said.

"I'll go get it," Buffy said quickly, running to get a bottle of cold water for Giles. She opened the laundry room and grabbed the crowbar that she'd put in there for a demonstration.

Joyce frowned at her when she came into the room holding it. After Buffy gave Giles the water, Joyce asked, "Why do you have that?"

"Oh, well, Giles has something to tell you, and I need this to do a demonstration in a minute," Buffy said. She sat down on the arm of the chair Giles was sitting in.

Joyce felt unsettled as the tension in the room finally registered.

"Yes, well, Joyce, I am afraid what I'm about to tell you may seem farfetched—even impossible," Giles said. "But I assure you that it is entirely true, and I am utterly rational."

"Okay," Joyce said, getting anxious.

"The world is older than you know. . ." he began.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_I toyed with leaving Xander behind, but I just couldn't do it. Not only do I love him, I loved the idea of him with the Weasley twins. I hope this makes you happy even if it's a bit far-fetched!_


	4. Change

_*****The Next Day*****_

Buffy woke up not sure if she was ready to face the day. Her mother took the news of her calling as a slayer only slightly better than she had the first time. At least, she didn't call the men in white jackets or the police. She did, however, get really pissed at Giles when she heard that Buffy had died for a minute. Then she threw him out of the house.

Today, she was supposed to go to her dad's in L. A. However, she wasn't nearly as excited about it as she should be. It was cool finding out about a whole new side of herself and her other dad. She really hoped her mom came around.

She got up and found her mother sitting at the table, no breakfast prepared. Buffy grabbed a bowl and a box of cereal. "Good morning, Mom," she said.

"I'm sorry, Buffy," her mom said. She knew that she had reacted poorly the night before.

"It's okay. It's a lot to take," Buffy said.

"I'm sorry that I never believed you when you first told me this," Joyce said. "I'm sorry that I actually let your father convince me you needed to be committed. It was just that you changed so much—literally overnight. Neither one of us knew how to handle it. We'd already been fighting because I suspected he was having an affair. We didn't know what else to do with you and what you were saying."

"No permanent damage, Mom. It's okay," she said, sitting down across from her mom. She took a sip of her orange juice.

"So you go out every night when I think you're in bed and fight monsters?" her mom wondered.

Buffy felt like she was dangerous territory, but she nodded. "I don't like sneaking around, Mom, but what else could I do? I literally have a sacred duty. If I stay home, people die," she said honestly. "It's not pretty, but it's the truth. This town is on a hellmouth, and dark creatures are drawn to it."

"Then we'll move," Joyce said.

"I'll be the slayer where ever we move to, Mom," Buffy said. "Darkness will seek me out."

"I don't like this," Joyce said flatly.

They had decided last night to give Joyce some time before bringing up Hogwarts, but it seemed like a natural thing to bring up. "Well, you know Severus teaches at an exclusive boarding school in Scotland, and Giles said the good side of me dying for minute is another slayer was called," Buffy shared. "Giles already asked that they bring the new slayer to Sunnydale."

"So we really could move?" Joyce asked, her eyes lighting up.

"I was thinking it might be kind of cool to go to school in Scotland—all those cute Brits," Buffy said with a grin.

Joyce latched onto the idea of her daughter being far away from the hellmouth. "That would be wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Severus wondered if you'd be interested in teaching art or art history?" Buffy asked. "Or you could open a shop in Scotland."

Joyce looked at her in wonder. To be able to teach art instead of managing her business might be a fun change. "Seriously? Me a teacher?" she asked.

"Well, you do have a degree in art history," Buffy pointed out. "And you know enough to teach art."

"Is it a high school?" Joyce asked.

"Actually, they start there at age eleven," Buffy said. "So it'll be an interesting mix."

"That would be fun," Joyce said.

"Do you think Dad would let me go?" she asked.

"Well, go spend some time with him, and I'll talk with Severus about this," Joyce said.

"Dad's coming this afternoon to pick me up, right?" Buffy confirmed.

"That's what he said," Joyce said. "Are you packed up?"

"Nope. Been quite busy," Buffy pointed out.

"Well, finish you breakfast and get started on it," Joyce said. "I know you want to say goodbye to your friends."

"Yes, but I don't want to stay the whole summer in L. A.," Buffy said. "If we decided to go to Scotland, I'll need time to catch up. The school is very different from American schools."

"Would you like to spend the rest of the summer with Severus?" Joyce said.

Buffy nodded. "I kind of would," she admitted.

"Well, I can understand that," her mom replied.

"I'll talk to your dad about your going to summer school for eight weeks, how's that?" Joyce suggested. She was afraid that Hank would get needlessly possessive of Buffy if he found out about Severus."

"You won't tell him about Severus?" Buffy asked.

"Well, honey, I don't like lying to your dad, but in this case, I'm not sure it's a good idea to tell him about Severus," Joyce said. "It'll only hurt him and make him feel defensive."

"He'd oppose me going to another country if he knew it had anything to do with Sev, huh?" Buffy asked.

Joyce nodded. "I think that's right to assume," she said.

"Okay," Buffy said. "I can spend all of next summer back in the States with Dad."

"Yes," Joyce said.

"Are you sure, though, you'd want to move your business?" Buffy asked. "What if you hate Scotland? Not to mention, I'll be done with school in like two years."

"I can always hire a manager to run the shop," Joyce pointed out.

"Really?" Buffy said. She didn't want her mom to give up everything for her.

"It would take me a few months to get someone trained and ready to take over, but I can do it," Joyce said. "That might be better. I'm sure I'll want to come back to America at some point."

"Plus, you might find some amazing Scottish artist while overseas!" Buffy enthused.

"Maybe," Joyce said.

"Father's going to talk to his headmaster when he goes home, so we'll know if everything will work out right away," Buffy said.

"That's good," Joyce said. "The sooner the better."

"The school has a few peculiar things about it, though," Buffy said. "You've heard of carrier pigeons, right?"

Joyce nodded. "Well, yea," she said.

"They use things like that in their school," Buffy said. "Birds that deliver messages. Isn't that cool?"

"That's very strange, but, yes, I can see how it might seem cool," she said.

"Students are allowed to have one pet," Buffy said. "Some have rats, cats, or birds. Owls are the most popular pet, I think."

"Really? That sounds like a fun place for kids," Joyce said, fascinated.

"Oh, and guess what's the best thing?" Buffy said, now bursting to tell her mother.

"What?" Joyce said, enjoying this side of her daughter. It'd been a long time since she'd seen her so excited and happy.

"Severus is going to ask his boss for invitations for Xander and Willow!" she exclaimed.

"That'll be amazing, sweetie," Joyce said, happy for her.

"Xander would get a scholarship since we know his parents wouldn't pay for anything like that," Buffy said.

"Some parents would like to but can't, Buffy," she said pointedly.

Buffy nodded. "I know," she said.

The doorbell rang, and Buffy jumped up. "I'll get it!" She ran to the door. It was her best friends.

"We just wanted to stop by and say goodbye," Willow said.

"We're going to miss you," Xander said.

"I talked to Mom," Buffy told them. "I didn't get into the mojo stuff with the school, but I told her about Sev's school. She's so determined to get me away from the hellmouth that I'm not sure she's thinking about anything else."

"That's great!" Willow said, grinning. "I mentioned to Dad that I was looking into exclusive boarding schools as a way to get an edge on college apps."

"What'd he say?" Buffy asked.

"He thought it was a great idea," Willow said smugly. "He even brought it up to Mom at breakfast. She loved the idea of having an excuse to book oversea talks and stuff."

"That's cool," Buffy said. She looked at Xander. "What did yours say?"

"I'm not saying a word until your father finds out if I can get a scholarship," Xander said. "I am going to start mowing lawns this summer for money. That way I can have some money to buy school supplies. I don't want to worry about what my parents will or won't do."

"We'll tell them they have to send you a hundred bucks a month for expenses," Willow said with a grin. "For a school in Scotland, that'll seem like a real deal. Then you can have spending money all the time!"

"You have the best brain!" Xander said in admiration.

"That is quite devious, Will," Buffy said, impressed, too.

"Buffy," Joyce said, coming into the room. "Oh, hi, kids."

"Hi, Mrs. Summers," Willow said.

"Buffy hasn't even packed yet," Joyce said.

"Yes, and I need to go over Giles' before Dad gets here," Buffy said. "So give me a hug. I'll call you guys in a few days."

"Okay," Xander said. He hugged her, and then Willow did, too.

"It won't be long, and I'll be back," Buffy said. She waved at them as they left, and then she raced up the stairs.

***** _Hogwarts*****_

Severus felt more than a little uncomfortable as he walked back into his room at Hogwarts, relieved that no one saw him return. He was still in his muggle clothes his daughter picked out for him. He looked down at himself, not sure his students would even recognize him. His daughter was such a force of nature. How did such a creature come from him?

He put on his normal wizard attire and sat down with a cup of hot tea, his mind full of the past few days. It amazed him how much his life had changed in such a short time. Severus needed to process all that happened so that he could talk to Albus and find a place for his daughter and her friends and possibly Joyce. He wasn't quite ready to think about what it would mean to have his ex-lover so close at hand.

Instead, he thought of the night before.

_*****Flashback*****_

_Joyce spent ten minutes yelling at Rupert, and then she was silent for several minutes. Guilt for not believing Buffy the first time had her hugging her daughter tightly. Then she asked Severus what he thought about all this._

" _Well, I have had some encounter with the supernatural," he told her. "I've known people who could use magic." Giles gave him an approving nod._

" _I just don't understand. I came her to get her away from all that stuff from L. A., and you're telling me that this place is full of monsters!" Joyce said, obviously upset._

" _It's okay, Mom. I'm the slayer. I slay the monsters," Buffy said. "I'm the thing that monsters fear."_

_Severus looked at her when she said that and was struck by how much power she actually had. She wasn't merely a sixteen-year-old girl, but she was a very powerful warrior for the light. A well of pride burst forth as he gazed at her. At that moment, all the dark places inside of him that had been so cold and empty for so long began to warm and fill with an overwhelming sense of love. Before, he had felt love for her in an abstract way. Now, though, as he got to know her, he saw that she was more than he could have ever imagined. She was definitely so much more than he deserved._

_Later, he went with her on patrol and was even more impressed by her. She was such an incredible fighter, never hesitating, so fearless. More than once, he had to hold himself back from trying to fight for her, but she handled herself so well. By the time the night was over, he was in awe of her._

_*****End of Flashback*****_

She was going to take the wizarding world by storm and have the Dark Lord himself deeply afraid. When he was sharing his time with her with Albus, he said, "My daughter is not at all what I expected."

Albus smiled. "I cannot wait to meet her," he said. "I am glad that she can attend Hogwarts even as I feel she will cause more trouble than Harry Potter."

Severus groaned as he realized his boss was probably right. "The girl isn't just curious about things, but she is actually driven to go first into the fray, kill the monster, and protect everyone," he said.

"You know what that means, right?" Albus said, giving him a knowing look.

Severus glared at him. "Don't even say it! It's bad enough my daughter has me looking like a muggle with this haircut," he grumbled.

"I think you look quite nice," Albus said. Minerva was still in shock when she saw his strange appearance.

"What's it going to happen when it gets out that the head of Slytherin House has a daughter that is a Gryffindor?" Severus wondered. "We don't even need to use the sorting hat on her. She's so obviously brave, selfless, and brash. Slayers are actually trained to be that way just so their bloody watchers don't become obsolete. It's maddening. Rupert does all the thinking for her or her best friend Willow."

"Tell me about her friends," Albus said.

"Willow is a lot like Hermione Granger," Severus said. "A bit more timid, though. Well, I say that, and yet she has slayed a vampire or two herself. Without using magic, she risks her life to fight with my daughter, so she's worse than Hermione. But she's brilliant and eager to please, less of a know-it-all than Hermione is. I quite liked her." That said a lot as Severus rarely liked children.

"Do you think she'll be a Gryffindor also?" Albus asked.

"She's a child of the hellmouth and a genius, so she could easily be a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw," he said. "But Cordelia Chase would be a Slytherin or a Gryffindor. The girl was ingenious enough to use a child's toy and modify it as a vampire weapon."

"Really? How so?" Albus asked, fascinated.

"It was something she called a super soaker—a water gun," Severus shared. "She filled it with holy water, and when she saw me, a stranger, fighting off three vampires, she came to my rescue."

"That is decidedly Gryffindor," Albus said, grinning.

"But the ingenuity is not," Severus pointed out. "Not to mention, she has a bit of the Malfoy condescension going for her."

"Do we know if any of them have family in Great Britain?" Albus asked.

"No, but I could get Rupert to get a blood sample. It would be better for them if they could claim a witch or wizard that was known to the community," Severus said.

Albus nodded. "That is a good idea," he said.

"Do you think you could find a place for all of them? Her friend Xander Harris saved her life, and he, too, possesses some degree of magic," Severus said. "I do believe, though, that Willow is the strongest. I didn't even bother testing her because it was so obvious."

"The hellmouth makes detecting potential witch or wizards problematic," Albus said. "It could also create dark witches and wizards just as easily. Not to mention creatures of chaos."

"These children are definitely not dark," Severus said.

"Yes, but if they are left to learn on their own, they could easily fall into the trap," Albus said. "The allure of power is seductive—as you well know."

Severus nodded, grimacing. "What am I going to do about my role as a spy? My daughter would not take kindly to me treating anyone poorly nor anyone treating me poorly," Severus said. "I don't think I can go on like I did."

"Well, we cannot hide your daughter from Voldemort, but we can conceal her slayer status from everyone until such a time that it needs to be revealed," Albus said. "She has defeated one ancient evil already and defied prophecy. She may be exactly what we need to win this war."

"My daughter isn't a tool for you to use," Severus said grimly.

"She is the greatest weapon at our disposal," Albus said. "Once she is trained as a witch, I don't think Voldemort himself can stand against her. She can teach Harry all about how to defy prophecy and escape preordained death."

Severus closed his eyes as he realized something. "Harry Potter is going to absolutely worship the ground she walks on, and my daughter will adopt him like a bloody puppy!" he complained.

Albus laughed. "Absolutely!" he agreed.

Both men knew that the new school year would be one for the record books.

***** _Chapter End*****_


	5. Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, you will see a bit kinder portrayal of the parents than other fanfiction stories. I hope you like it.

***** _Two Weeks Later*****_

Giles agreed that Willow, Cordelia, and Xander's parents did not need to know what Hogwarts really was, so Willow begun working on a website to fool the parents. Hogwarts School of Leadership and Excellence became the new name. She even came up with a brochure, and the letter Dumbledore sent inviting them to the exclusive school was doctored to have no mention of magic or wizardry. Dumbledore also mailed the doctored school invitation in the regular post office instead of the owlery.

Cordelia wasn't sure that she wanted to uproot her life and go to another country. Sure, they spoke English, but would her hair dryer work in the magic school? She did like the idea of learning to use magic, though. Why should Buffy be the only special one? Grant it, Buffy would always be the slayer and now a witch, but it was possible that Cordelia could surpass her in the magic front. Thinking about that, she figured she'd try it for a year. If she didn't like it, she could finish her senior year on the hellmouth. Of course, now that she knew she actually lived on a hellmouth, she wasn't too keen on that idea.

When the letter arrived, her dad called her into his office.

"Sweetheart, I received this letter today," he said, indicating the mail. "It seems you've been offered membership into a very exclusive boarding school in Scotland. Is that something you would be interested in?"

"Hmmm. I don't know. Can I see the letter?" she asked. She read the letter, grinning at the changes Willow had made to it. "We should check out the website."

Her dad smiled. "Good idea," he said and typed in the website that was on the bottom of the letter. A picture of Hogwarts was on the page. "Good God! Look at that! Wow!"

Cordelia hadn't yet seen the picture, and she was impressed. "It looks like a castle!" she said.

"I like the idea of my princess living in a castle," he said, grinning at her. "Your mom and I knew when we picked you that you were special."

Cordelia smiled, her heart filled with love as her dad made her feel special like he did every day. No one else knew that Cordelia Chase was adopted, but it wasn't a secret in her family. Her parents had told her before she started kindergarten that she was a gift given to them by God. Of all the babies they could've gotten, they had picked her—their princess. Sure, they spoiled her rotten, but it wasn't out of indifference but love. Cordelia suspected that her parents that birthed her must've had some magical roots. Giles had taken a blood sample a few days earlier of all of them to find out if they had any magical family connections. Cordelia was both nervous and excited to find out who she might belong to.

"It looks like you'll be required to take a chemistry class, history of Great Britain, a dueling class—how fun is that!" her dad remarked. "I always wanted to learn how to fence."

"Animals, Daddy. They have animals on campus and encourage a pet!" she said. Her mom was allergic, so she wasn't allowed a cat or dog. She'd always wanted one, though.

"That would be great, sweetie," her dad said.

"They get almost an entire month off for Christmas, so I can come home," Cordelia said, looking at the calendar. "That's good."

"Is this something you think you might want to do?" he asked.

"Well, an exclusive boarding school in Great Britain has to be good for the college apps, right?" she asked.

"I would think so," her dad said.

"If I didn't like it, I could come back and graduate here with my friends," Cordelia pointed out.

"That's true," her dad said. "How about I discuss it with your mother? You think about if you want to spend that much time away from home. It is very far."

"What if they had some type of summer program that would let you check the place out to see if you like it? Then if I hated it, I could come back before school starts," Cordelia said, following the plan Willow and Giles put in place.

"Now that would be perfect," he said. "Let me go talk to your mom."

"I'll search out the website further," Cordelia suggested. Her dad nodded and got up, so she could take his spot.

Cordelia was excited as she gazed at the impressive image of Hogwarts. "This could be really amazing," she murmured.

***** _Rosenberg Residence*****_

Willow's parents were back home after a three-day trip to Los Angeles. Willow was on pins and needles as her parents went through their mail.

Finally, her mother said, "Willow, did you apply to a school in another country? There's an acceptance letter here."

Her dad looked up, curious. "Really? What country?" he asked.

"Scotland," her mother said. "It seems our brilliant daughter has been offered to finish out her last two years of high school at an exclusive boarding school."

Her dad gave her a proud smile. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. We have raised an incredibly smart and accomplished young lady," he said.

"You know if she was in school in Europe, we would have good excuse to accept some of those invitations to overseas conferences," her mom said.

"Remember, I mentioned it to you?" Willow reminded them. She tried not to be hurt that neither seemed to recall an entire conversation she'd had with them a week ago. "I guess their website must be cutting edge and saw my inquiry. So you think I could go? I think it'd be cool to go to another country," Willow said. "I will pull up the website, so you can check it out."

She got out her computer. Of course, Willow had the site she'd fabricated already up. "Look, Dad. The school is a castle!" she gushed. Then she turned her computer around, so they could see it.

"My, that does look impressive," her dad said.

"Yes," her mom agreed. "Obviously, a real sense of history at this school."

"What's the price of admissions?" her dad asked.

Her mom looked down at the letter. "Not much different than a private school in California," she said. "I'm surprised." She couldn't know that the wizardry was stuck in the past, so money went a lot further in their community.

"I bet a school like that can house a lot of students," Willow said, clicking on tabs that she had created with the information Severus had given her. "It seems to be co-ed, starting at age eleven."

"That seems reasonable," her mother said. "Eleven is the best age for a child to be on their own." That was a year later than they'd first left Willow alone in the house.

"Well, dear, if this is something you think you'd be happy trying out, we'll support you," Ira said.

"Really? That's awesome!" Willow exclaimed, jumping up and hugging both her parents. She couldn't believe it; she was going to be trained as a witch! Best of all, her two best friends would be with her.

***** _Harris'*****_

Xander still couldn't believe that he had wizard potential and was half afraid to get his hopes up. If his girls left him behind, his life would suck major. Of course, the new slayer was supposed to show up today or tomorrow. She might be cool like Buffy, but Giles would be gone. He'd have to break in a whole new watcher. Being left behind might be the worst thing in the world, but it might be okay.

Ah, who was he kidding? If he couldn't go with them, he would be miserable. He hadn't gone but a few days without seeing Willow since kindergarten. Since Jesse was gone, Willow and Buffy were the center of his world. To go to a school where his history wouldn't matter would be amazing.

His parents were both home, so he took the mail to his mother.

"Mom, there's a letter there that says to the parents of Alexander Harris," he told her.

"Did you get in trouble again at school?" his dad asked, glaring.

"It's summer, Dad. No trouble to get in to," he said. "But Willow told me about this new private school she was applying to, and she had me apply in the spring. I didn't say anything 'cause I thought it was crazy. No way, I'd get in."

"You? In a private school? Yea, right," his dad scoffed.

"But Will said they didn't look for just smart people like her, but they sometimes let in people that helped round out their schools," Xander said, remembering how Willow had coached him. "She said something about quotas."

"Stuck up bastards. Dismiss a qualified person just to fill out their damn quotas," his dad complained.

His mom opened the letter. "I can't believe it. You got in, Alexander!" her mother said, her eyes wide.

"Really?" Xander asked, faking his surprise.

"You're lying," his dad accused. "Let me see that." His mother gave him the letter. "Hogwarts? What kind of school is that?"

Xander peered over his shoulder. "It's in Scotland. Another country? Seriously? I think Will forgot to mention that part," he said, amazed.

"That's wonderful!" his mother said, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Jessica, there's no way we can afford to send him clear over to Europe!" his dad said.

"The letter says full scholarship! Will was right! I'm a quota kid!" Xander exclaimed.

"They have Affirmative Action in Scotland?" his mother asked in bemusement.

"What, they don't have any California blue collared students?" his dad said, snickering. He gave the letter back to his wife.

"Hogwarts School of Leadership and Excellence," his mother read. "Sounds fancy."

"Has to be better than Sunnydale with the troll Snyder," Xander muttered.

"You say Willow's parents are going to let her go?" his mother asked.

"Yes," he said. "Her parents said it's good for scholarships to college and stuff. Not that I want to go to college, but it'd be really cool to see another country."

"I saw another country when I was in the Army. You could enlist," his dad suggested.

"Yea, I might," Xander said. "Two years to decide, though." Agreeing with his father was the best way to keep him happy. Happy dad increased his chances of getting what he wanted from the man.

"College can be lots of fun, sweetie. You'd meet a nice young girl and give me a sweet grandbaby to spoil," his mom said, smiling.

Xander grinned, relieved that his parents were being so nice. They weren't evil, but sometimes his dad could be a real asshole. "I'm way too young to think of babies, Mom," he said.

"That's damn sure," his dad said. "I don't want to raise no bastards. Give it ten years and get married when you have a good job."

"Well, a fancy school might help him get a good job," his mom said. She looked down. "It says that we would need to send $100 a month for toiletries and incidentals. Well, we spend more than that on food feeding him, Tony. That shouldn't be a problem."

"A plane ticket to Scotland is crazy expensive," his dad said.

"Oh, I got a summer job already, Dad. I can save money for a planet ticket if that's all you're worried about," he said.

His dad was silent a moment. Then he shrugged. "Well, if you want to go hang with some Scots instead of good ole Americans, no sweat off my back," he said.

"That's so far, though, Alexander. I would miss you something fierce," his mom said, looking forlorn.

He put his arm around here. "I'll be home for Christmas break. Will says the school has like a full month off instead of two weeks," he said.

"That'd be nice," she said. "You promise that you'll write me once a week or call?"

"Absolutely," he said. He couldn't believe it. Willow was right—he'll never doubt her again. Just knowing she was going would alleviate most of their concerns. They'd always liked her.

"Willow doesn't need to go so far away without you," his mom said. "With poor Jesse gone, you're probably more needed than ever. She'd be completely lost in another school without you there with her.

"That's true," Xander said.

"It is good to know someone if you're going to go so far," his dad agreed. "That Willow is a sensible girl and won't lead you to any trouble."

"Yea, I wouldn't know what to do without Will," Xander said. "I'll go tell her my good news. Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Mom." He kissed his mom and then walked toward the foyer to leave.

"Scotland? I can't believe it," his mother said with a sigh.

"It's gotta be safer than this hell hole we live in now," his dad said. "You know as well as I that Jesse didn't run away. The monsters in this town killed him." Xander paused outside in the hallway, his dad's words surprising him. Did he know about the supernatural? Bemused, he walked out the front door to talk it over with Willow.

"He'll be safe at a boarding school," his wife agreed. "An exciting adventure."

"I had my adventure in the army," Tony said. "Don't know why he needs to go gallivanting across the globe to some fancy boarding school."

Jessica smirked. "You're just jealous," she said. "No one offered you one."

"If I went to boarding school, I might not ever have met you," he said, leaving over and kissing her neck, causing her to giggle.

"You sure, he'll be okay?" she asked, worried for her baby.

"Our boy is a survivor. Don't let that happy-go-lucky exterior full you," Tony said, unconcerned. Xander would handle those Scots just fine.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_I know most fanfiction depict Xander's parents as abusive monsters, but there's really not much evidence to support that. Most of your ideas about it come from fanfictions stories you've read, not so much the show. Children of abuse rarely have the open heart that Xander has nor treat women so well. Someone taught him to love, so I decided to go this way. The wedding in season 6 showed his dad drinking too much, but he wasn't mean to Xander. In fact, it seemed as if they were helping pay for it. His parents didn't throw him out after graduation, and his mother made drinks for his friends. The drunken fighting at Christmas was the chaos of extended family, not proof, in my opinion, that they were abusive parents. I have been in alcoholic homes with abusive parents, and they rarely produce men like Xander._


	6. A Disturbing Truth

***** _Sunnydale*****_

Buffy’s dad was okay with her going to a private school in another country, but he didn’t like her cutting short his time with her. She promised to come back two weeks before school started and spend three of her four weeks at Christmas with him. Naturally, he said he’d take her back-to-school shopping when she returned to him at the end of the summer.

She hung up the phone after talking to Willow and telling her all about what all her dad said when Giles called.

“Buffy, if you are able to come over tonight, the new slayer has arrived,” Giles said.

“Really?” Buffy asked.

“Yes, her name is Kendra. If you want to take her on a patrol tonight, give her information about the city, come to my house at nine, and I’ll introduce you,” Giles said.

“Cool,” Buffy said, happy. She went and told her mother.

“That’s good. I’m glad there’s someone else to do the slaying,” she said.

“It’ll be strange not to be here,” Buffy said. “But it’ll be cool going to a new country and learn magic.”

“What?” her mother asked.

Buffy cringed. “Oops,” she said.

“What do you mean? Oops?” Joyce asked.

“Father said he was going to tell you,” Buffy said. There was a peck on the window, and Buffy looked. “It’s an owl. I bet that’s Sev’s.”

“What? Why would an owl be connected to your father, and why is an owl pecking on our window?” Joyce asked, confused.

Buffy opened the window, and the brown owl flew in. It sat down on top of their TV and chirped at Buffy. “This is Father’s owl,” she said confidently.

“Why would Severus have an owl?” Joyce asked.

“It’s how people at Hogwarts send messages quickly,” Buffy said.

“Seriously?” Joyce inquired.

“I mentioned this to you,” Buffy said.

“You said they allowed pets, not that they sent mail from another country with birds!” Joyce argued.

“Carrier pigeons, remember?” she said with a smirk.

“But this is crazy!” Joyce protested as Buffy took the two letters tied to the owl.

“I bet the little guy is thirsty and hungry,” Buffy said. “What do owls eat?”

“Mice?” her mom said.

“We don’t have any mice, and that’s just gross!” Buffy said with a shudder.

“I’ll go get some water and lunch meat,” Joyce said, feeling a bit disturbed.

Buffy petted the cute owl and opened the letters. One was to her mom from Severus. Nosey, she scanned it and saw that he was telling her about the magic. She closed it up and looked at her own.

_Dear Daughter,_

_I hope your time with your dad was pleasant. If he agreed to let you come spend some time with me this summer, please send a reply back with the owl. I will make arrangements to return in three days to get you and your friends. We have a lot to cover if you are to be ready. Rupert sent us the blood samples and only one of your friends has any connection to the wizardry world. The news is most upsetting. I dare not write the news, but I will inform you and your friends of the findings in person. The letter to your mother gives her a brief explanation of Hogwarts and my role as potion master and wizard. It is cowardly of me to not tell her in person, but I wanted her to have time to process it before I return to your house by portkey in three day’s time. I will know then if it is too much for her to handle or not._

_I have received a few strange looks from my colleagues over the hair cut you forced on me. However, I have decided that it is less annoying than the previous locks, so everyone will just have to get used to it._

_I look forward to seeing you soon. Try to stay out of trouble before then._

_Love,_

_Your Father_

Buffy grinned at his admittance that he liked her haircut, but then she wondered what the blood connection was that was upsetting? She hoped her friends weren’t related to any evil wizards or anything. If it was Cordelia, it would explain a lot.

“What does your father say?” her mother asked as she sat the water and food down for the owl. 

“Here,” Buffy said. “He sent you a letter, too. You might want to read mine first.” 

Joyce read Buffy’s letter, disturbed by what he said. Then she read his letter to her, sitting down in the middle of it.

Buffy hoped that her mother wouldn’t hate her Father for not telling him the full truth of his school.

After reading Buffy’s letter and her letter twice, Joyce finally spoke. “So you’re not just a slayer with superstrength and fighting skills, but you are also a witch. You possess magical powers that you inherited from your lying wizard father?” The words were spoken through clenched teeth.

“You’re mad?” Buffy asked, wincing.

“Why would I be mad? You and everyone is lying to me at every turn,” she said, giving her daughter a dark look.

“Mom, you didn’t handle the news about me being a slayer so well,” Buffy pointed out. “Father told you that he knew about the supernatural and magic. He planned on telling you.”

“What? After I already decided to uproot my entire life to go work at a school full of witches?” Joyce said, her voice going to a high pitch.

“I’m sorry, Mom, but you have to own up to your part,” Buffy said. “It’s a lot to throw on someone. The first time I told you, you had me committed to a mental institute. So, yeah, we didn’t think it was a good idea to dump the witch and magic stuff right away. Father said he was going to tell you, and he did. I’m sorry it wasn’t soon enough for you, but no one was planning on keeping you in the dark for long, Mom.”

Joyce didn’t want to talk her daughter anymore. She hated feeling like a fool and being rendered defensive. It was true that she _had_ committed her daughter, and she hadn’t believed her ludicrous claims that vampires were real. It was what any rational person would’ve assumed, too. Did she have to keep paying for that mistake? Maybe if she saw her daughter slaying vampires the entire thing would seem real to her. Then again if her daughter was leaving all this behind did she really want that image in her head?

***** _Hogwarts*****_

Severus was still reeling from what the blood test on Cordelia Chase showed. The girl was his niece. His late sister hadn’t just been kidnapped and murdered, but she’d been pregnant at the time. How did it happen? His sister was named Cordelia Anne Snape, and she was a shy, sweet girl with those beautiful eyes. How did Regulus Black meet her? How did he get the chance to impregnate her? Was it rape? Severus couldn’t wrap his mind around the upsetting news that his test revealed. Albus did his own test, confirming his results. There was no doubt. His sister had given birth to a baby before she was murdered, and Regulus Black, Sirius’ younger brother, was the father. Did Regulus kill her?

Regulus was a grade behind Severus and a member of his house. Although he had been an eager Death Eater, Severus never saw such evil in him. The boy was more of a people pleaser than anything. Sirius’ break from Black family tradition first by being sorted into Gryffindor and later by fighting against the Dark Lord actively, put the pressure on Reggie to step in the role Sirius scorned. As the heir, Sirius’ defection horrified and angered his parents. Regulus had wanted to please them more than he wanted to kill or maim muggles.

Was it possible that his sister had went into hiding, knowing she was pregnant? Did she give the baby her name or did she die in childbirth and Regulus named her? Why wouldn’t Regulus tell him, though? They were on good terms. Was he afraid of Severus’ reaction? That was understandable. Did the Dark Lord kill her or have her killed? Is that what finally pushed Regulus away from him?

There was too many question and not enough answers. Albus called him to his office to discuss it further.

“Severus, I’ve thought about this new development and have concluded that we must contact Sirius,” Albus said.

Severus glared at him. “I do not plan on sharing my upsetting family news with _him_!” he exclaimed. He hated Sirius with a passion for being his chief tormentor as a child and teen.

“Not only does it concern his family, too, but he may be able to help answer some questions that we have,” Albus pointed out.

“How? He’s a wanted fugitive,” Severus argued.

“I know how to get in touch with him,” Albus admitted.

“Of course, you do,” Severus said sourly.

“He might be able to find something in that house of his that Regulus left behind that could explain things,” Albus pointed out. “Possibly Regulus’ portrait?”

Severus realized that he did have a point. The Black house might contain answers and only the Black heir could gain access to it. He gritted his teeth, hating that he needed to appeal to the man he loathed.

“Possibly,” he admitted.

“You know, Severus, your daughter will most likely be sorted in Harry’s house, and she will hear straight from him and his friends how you lied about Peter’s confession to Fudge. It’s your fault that his godfather is a wanted fugitive,” Albus said.

Severus felt sick as he realized the old man had a good point. He _had_ lied not just because it fit his role as a spy, but also because he liked knowing the man who made his life so miserable was being punished. He considered it karmic justice. “You cannot imagine how much he and his friends, including James Potter, tormented me at this school. The bullying was unbearable, and you and no one did nothing,” Severus said. “They were one of the main reason I was even interested in being a Death Eater.”

Albus felt a twinge of guilt. “I realize that, Severus. And I know that I could’ve done more to help,” he said. “All I can do is be better now. Besides, you are a father now. You cannot sink to other people’s level, but you need to show your daughter how to rise above it.”

“She has Rupert to teach her that,” Severus said sourly.

“But _you_ are her father,” Albus reminded him.

“What do you suggest I do?” Severus said. “You know my role. You convinced me to do it. Now I have to somehow allow Voldemort to know about my daughter and protect her at the same time?”

“I think your daughter will be quite able to protect herself,” Albus said.

“Possibly, but I’ve seen firsthand the evil this man is capable of doing. You’ve seen what was done to the Longbottoms by one of his followers. What if something like that happened to Buffy or her friends?” he pointed out.

“There’s always a risk when at war, Severus, but the risk to your daughter is greater on the hellmouth,” Albus reminded him. “Even more so for her untrained friends.”

“Yes, I know,” he said, grim.

“We can request a private meeting with the Minister and allow you to tell him the truth under veritaserum, which I should’ve insisted to begin with,” Albus said. “We have wronged Sirius in every way. He is a head of a family and was convicted without a trial. Fudge needs to be reminded of this.”

“What if Fudge is a Death Eater? He may just be weak and manipulated by Lucius, or he could be a hidden member I know nothing of,” Severus said.

“I think we will need to give him the drops or check his arm,” Albus said. “It’s possible that I can get Arthur to get that done. He has access.”

“And if Fudge is working directly for the Dark Lord?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Albus said grimly. He couldn’t contemplate that the Ministry was so corrupt. “If he is cleared, you will go to him and tell him about your daughter and new familial connection to Sirius. How it was important to tell them truth for the children’s sake. Cornelius will believe that.”

“I will consider it,” Severus said. “We must find out what side the Minister is on.”

Albus agreed. He had been too complacent where the man was concerned, and things were going to change when Severus’ daughter arrived. A slayer was never a child, and she would demand fairness and justice. Her watcher would back her up. Severus would learn to bend or break upon the rock that was his daughter.

Albus knew that the arrival of the slayer and her friends from the hellmouth would shake the foundations of his school like nothing ever had. The four of them would not have the prejudice of so many other of the students. Nor did he think they would all be in the same house. Once you face death with another, though, you would not let ancient traditions divide you. Albus expected to see Severus’ daughter and his niece to do more to change the atmosphere of his school than even Harry could do.

He grinned, looking forward to the upcoming fireworks. 

_*****Chapter End*****_

_Remember, I am not an expert on Harry Potter as I’ve only read the series once. However, I do want to address some things that bothered me in the story as I rewrite the tale. Severus cannot be Buffy’s father and not address some of the wrongs he is guilty of. To me, it would make the tale incredulous if he was allowed to get away with somethings. Yes, I made up Severus’ sister but not Sirius’ brother, who was a part of HP world._


	7. Say Goodbye to the Hellmouth

_*****The Next Day*****_

Buffy was both anxious and excited. Her father was supposed to be here at some point today. Last night, she’d met the new slayer. Her name was Kendra, and she was the opposite of Buffy in every way. Her watcher, Sam Zabuto, seemed okay—very knowledge and proud to be on the hellmouth with his young charge. They’d been together for years, so Buffy felt he would try hard to take care of her. She and Giles did make it clear that Buffy would not be alive without the help of her friends. Kendra seemed shocked that others knew about her role, but Buffy told her how it happened. Hopefully, Kendra would see the advantages of letting others help. Willow was going to introduce her to Amy in case they ever needed a witch.

“Buffy, are you all packed?” her mother asked. “Giles is on the phone.”

“Yes,” she called back. She picked up the other phone. “What’s up, Giles? Are you all packed?”

“Why, yes, I am. Mr. Zabuto and Kendra are going to stay in my apartment, so that they don’t have to worry about accommodations,” Giles shared.

“That’s a good idea,” Buffy remarked.

“Did you want to do some sparring with her before it’s time to go?” Giles said.

“That’d be fun,” Buffy said eagerly. The night before, she took Kendra around and showed her the best cemeteries. She filled her in on the Master, and she showed him where they buried him.

“We cannot spar at the library as I tendered my resignation and turned in my keys,” Giles shared.

“Did you pack up all your books?” she asked.

“Yes. Of course, I left a few that I thought Kendra and her watcher might need. I’ve dropped the rest off to be mailed already. Too many to carry,” he remarked. 

“That’s for sure,” she said. “If you want to use my backyard, you can bring them here.”

“That will work,” Giles said. “Oh, one other thing. I had to ask Angel to work on a something after we leave. You showed Kendra the Master’s grave last night?”

“Yep. Told her the tale that made her,” Buffy said with a snicker.

“Well, Mr. Zabuto says that there is a ritual that could be utilized to resurrect the Master as long as his bones are around,” Giles shared.

“Seriously?” she asked.

“Yes, and I am so annoyed that I didn’t know that,” Giles said. “It’s quite embarrassing.”

“Well, it’s not like you didn’t have other things to distract you,” Buffy said loyally.

“True,” he agreed. “Nevertheless, Angel agreed to dig his body up and see the bones incinerated.”

Angel. Buffy was trying not to think about leaving him behind. It seems they would be over before they even begun. The hellmouth was too dangerous for him to leave it. After she left Kendra last night, she went and told him everything. Until her dad gave her the okay, she hadn’t wanted to tell Angel that she might leave him for good. 

_Flashback_

_“Angel,” she said, getting his attention. He was reading a book and looked up at her._

_Smiling, he put the book down. “This is a nice surprise. Back from your dad’s already?” he asked._

_“Yes, I need to tell you some things—a lot of things,” she said. The entire story spilled out of her. Finding out Hank wasn’t her real dad. How pissed and sad she was, but how excited she was to know her father, who was so different from Giles even though he was British._

_“He says I’m a witch, not just a slayer. Can you believe that?” Buffy asked._

_Angel’s smile never wavered. “I’m happy for you, Buffy,” he said._

_“You’re not mad that the Council said it was okay for me to leaving the hellmouth and train as a witch?” she asked._

_“I’m glad that your life will be so much more,” he said simply._

_“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about this when I found out,” she said. “But I didn’t want to think about leaving you. It makes it too hard. Everyone else I love is coming with me—even Mom will by the end of the summer. How will I be able to say goodbye to you?”_

_“It’s okay,” he told her. “We’ll see each other again.”_

_Buffy nodded, not really mollified by that fact, however._

_“The new slayer is here. Her name is Kendra, and she was raised in isolation,” Buffy shared. “I don’t think she’ll survive long here without some help. Do you think you can stick around and help her like you helped me?”_

_Angel was silent as he thought about living on the mouth of hell without the woman he loved. Fighting by her side had given him purpose. “You know the past century, I mostly wasted my souled life drowning in guilt,” he told her. “It was only when Whistler told me about you and said I needed to help you that I came to life again. You gave my life meaning.”_

_Buffy felt her eyes filling with tears. “I love you, Angel,” she said softly._

_Angel pulled her close and kissed her. “I love you, too, Buffy,” he said._

_“I don’t know when I’ll see you again,” Buffy said, wiping her eyes. “Maybe we should be closer.” Her face was red as she gave him a pointed look._

_“I don’t want your first time to be a goodbye. It should be a beginning,” he said._

_“But I want to be with you,” she said, hoping to cajole him without begging._

_“I think fate might be telling us there’s a new path for both of us,” Angel said in resignation. He was meant to help the slayer keep the hellmouth closed. Finally accepting that duty made it clear what he needed to do. “You and I need to do the work that is before us. I will stay here and keep your home safe for you.”_

_“You will?” Buffy asked, grateful and sad at the same time._

_“I will,” he assured her. “I will try to convince the new slayer not to kill me and help her whenever I can.”_

_Buffy hugged him tightly. “If you get slayed while I’m gone, I’m going to be so pissed,” she said, pulling back to look at him._

_“I’ll be okay, Buffy,” he said, caressing her cheek. “I’ve taken care of myself a while now. You’ve given me hope for a future.”_

_“What if we can’t ever be together?” Buffy asked, her heartbreaking._

_“Just because we can’t be together now doesn’t mean we can’t ever,” he said. “But I don’t think you should wait for me, Buffy. Live your life. I’m a vampire, and I can’t ever give you a life in the sun.”_

_“What if I don’t want that?” she said._

_“One day, you will,” he said. “But I’ll be there for you anytime you need me. I’ll always have your back.”_

_“Same goes,” she said with a small smile. “Things get too bad here, and Kendra gets over her head, promise you will call?”_

_“I will,” he assured her._

_“I’ll be back in August before school starts, so I’ll see you then,” she said._

_“Will you write to me?” he asked._

_“Absolutely,” she said. “Oh, Father says the school is run by magic and not electricity. Weird, huh?”_

_“Drusilla, a vampire I knew long ago, told me once that there was a world of magic out there when we were in Scotland,” Angel said in bemusement. “Angelus thought she was just talking crazy.”_

_Buffy laughed. “That’s funny,” she said. “I can’t call you since they don’t have phones there, but I will write. They use owls, though, to deliver the mail.”_

_Angel looks surprised. “So if an owl shows up, I’ll know why,” he said._

_Buffy stood. “I need to get home. I’ll see you soon, okay? Two months isn’t so long,” she said._

_“No,” he agreed, watching her leave. He was happy for her, but it would be hard to be without her. Luckily, he was used to life being hard._

_End of Flashback_

Buffy was kind of glad that she would have the summer away because it’d help get her used to being away from Angel. Of course, she was going to be away from him at her dad’s anyway, but that was two hours away, not on the other side of the planet. 

“Do you think Kendra will ever accept Angel’s help?” Buffy asked.

“I’m not sure. She is a very traditional slayer,” Giles said. 

“Well, I’m going to tell her that she better not try and kill him,” Buffy said. “I’ll be so pissed.”

“Let’s hope that won’t happen,” Giles said. “I’ll talk to Mr. Zabuto.”

“See you soon,” Buffy said.

She hung up and joined her mother for breakfast.

***** _Chases'*****_

“I can’t believe you rather go to summer school than to Puerto Rico with us, honey,” her mother said.

“I’m going to Europe, Mom,” Cordelia said smugly. “It’s not a step down. Puerto Rico will still be America’s poor stepchild, but I’m going to the Motherland!”

Her dad chuckled. “Well, this house will be so quiet without you,” he said. 

“I’ll be home for a few weeks in two months,” Cordelia said.

“But summer school?” her mother said, curling her nose in distaste.

“It’s so I can catch up on some things the other kids already took. I don’t want to be the dumb loser, who doesn’t know British history,” Cordelia said.

“My baby could never be a loser,” her mother said, hugging her.

“Make sure you take time to see the sights and take pictures with that new camera I bought you,” her dad said.

“I will, Daddy,” she said, hugging him.

“Call or write us as soon as you can,” her mother said.

“And watch your purse,” her dad advised. “You can’t be too careful when in another country. There are thieves everyone looking to take advantage of young girls or too trusting Americans.”

“I will, Daddy,” she said. Cordelia still couldn’t believe it was happening. Her life was about to change forever. The summer was just a taste of what would be her new life would be. 

***** _Rosenbergs'*****_

“Now, Willow, we will be in Germany, so no need to write us,” her mother said.

“We will send you post cards of our travels,” her father said.

“Study hard,” her mother said.

“Don’t forget to read the Torah and study your Hebrew,” her father said.

“I won’t,” Willow promised. “I think ancient languages is a required class.”

“You will have an amazing time,” her mother said. “There is so much cultural in Europe. Take time to appreciate it.”

“I will,” Willow said. She couldn’t believe that she was about to go to a magic school!

***** _Harris’*****_

“Well, I’m ready to go to school,” Xander said, his large duffel bag on his shoulder.

“Don’t read too many books,” his dad said with a snicker.

“Don’t eat any food you don’t recognize,” his mother said.

“Okay,” Xander said. “I’ll write you.” Should he warn them about the owls or let it be a surprise?

He grinned thinking of his dad’s face and said nothing.

“I’ll miss you,” his mom said, hugging him.

“I’ll come back in August and spend two weeks here before classes start,” Xander said.

“We’re not paying for another trip,” his dad said firmly.

Xander saw no point in reminding his dad that he wasn’t paying for anything now. “No worries. I got it covered,” he said. Xander was never more grateful for his parents half-hearted interest because how could he explain that he was magically teleporting to another country?

“Stay out of trouble,” his dad said. “And don’t trust any Germans. The French aren’t much better either.”

“Sure,” Xander said with an easy smile.

“But their foods are good,” his mom added. “Try everything.”

His parents started bickering over the food. “Okay, bye!” he said. Then he turned and walked out the door. He walked slowly down the street, and when he turned the corner, he broke out into his happy Snoopy Dance.

***** _Summers’*****_

Severus arrived at his daughter’s house, but there wasn’t anyone in the living room that he appeared in. He could see bags, so he knew that everyone was ready to go. “Buffy? Joyce?” he called out. He went into the kitchen and noticed movement in the backyard. When he got to the kitchen door and opened it, Joyce was standing there. “Joyce? What’s going on?”

“Oh, Severus, sorry,” she said. “Buffy is sparring with the new slayer, Kendra.”

Severus saw that everyone was standing back watching, so he looked and observed his daughter fighting with a dark-skinned young girl. He watched in stunned disbelief as his daughter fought the other girl. The two girls moved with incredible speed and elegance. They were using swords, causing him to look at Joyce in disapproval. “Someone is going to get killed or maimed!” he exclaimed.

“It is a bit upsetting to watch,” Joyce agreed. “Rupert assures me they will be fine.”

“Buffy’s been training with Angel on swords, and she is very adept, I assure you,” Giles said. “Don’t drop your shoulder, Buffy!”

Buffy adjusted and then disarmed Kendra, knocking her down. “That was fun!” she remarked.

“You are very good,” Kendra said as Buffy held out her hand and helped her up.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had such a good workout,” Buffy said. “Angel can keep up with me, but he doesn’t like to go full out.”

“Who is Angel?” Kendra asked.

“Glad you asked,” Buffy said. “I wanted to tell you about him. He’s a very good friend who fights by my side, and I trust him completely.”

“Someone else who knows your secret?” she asked, looking at her friends standing nearby in disapproval.

“Angel has been quite helpful,” Giles added, looking at Kendra’s watcher. “He is going to take care of the Master’s bones tonight.”

“Since we’re leaving, you’ll need someone to watch your back,” Xander said. “Deadboy’s good in a fight.”

“Deadboy?” Kendra asked, confused.

“That’s the thing that might bother you,” Buffy said, giving Xander a look to silent him. “Angel is a vampire that was cursed by gypsies, and he has a soul.”

“You consort with vampires?” Kendra asked, shocked. She looked at Giles. “You allow this?”

Giles could feel Sam Zabuto’s condemnation and started to spit out a reply, but Buffy beat him to it. “Well, I don’t need Giles to _allow_ me to do anything. He’s my Watcher, not my warden. If I’m the one risking my life, I get a say in who does or does not fight by my side,” Buffy said pointedly. “Angel is good, and if you try to stake him, I will come back to this town and kick your ass!”

Kendra crossed her arms. “You will try,” she stated.

“Well, how about we go another round without swords? I’ll beat you in hand to hand just as easily,” Buffy said confidently. “You have perfect form, but you lack imagination. You have no passion, no fire. I will beat you every time.”

“She’s not wrong,” Giles said quietly to Zabuto. “Kendra is too controlled and rigid. The hellmouth is anything but controlled.”

“Learn to roll with the punches or the town will kill you,” Buffy said firmly. “Remember why you were called—I died after just a year. It was my friend there who saved my life.” Buffy pointed at Xander. “If you can’t allow anyone to help you, you will not have anyone there to help _you_ when you’re dead or dying.”

“Buffy, your Father is here. It’s time to go,” Joyce said, interrupting before things escalated.

Buffy looked up and saw her father. “Hey, Father!” she said, moving to hug him. “We’re so excited to be going. This is Kendra, the new slayer. Kendra, this is my father, Severus Snape. He’s a wizard and potion master at this magic school in Scotland that’s named after a hog that has warts.”

Severus looked scandalized at her description of his beloved school. “That is most definitely _not_ where the name comes from!” he exclaimed.

Buffy grinned and looked smug. She turned to Xander. “Told you that he’d freak!” she said.

“That was a sucker’s bet,” Willow commented.

“Can we go already? Watching Buffy play with a sword is not my idea of a good time,” Cordelia complained.

Severus stared at Cordelia, seeing her for the first time.

She was his blood, the daughter of his beloved sister. Her haughty hair and beautiful profile struck him, and he smiled at her with much warmth. “Yes, l am ready,” he said.

Cordelia beamed at him. “Your dad is so much cooler than you, Buffy,” Cordelia said.

“Whatever. I’m a slayer and a witch. How much cooler can I get?” Buffy said smugly. “Plus, my American dad is going to buy me shoes from Prada’s new line.”

Cordelia looked surprised. “Seriously?”

“Too bad you have those giant horse feet, Cordy, or you could borrow them,” Xander said, grinning.

“I can’t wait to learn the spell that will turn you into the jackass you already are,” Cordelia replied, glaring at him.

Joyce looked alarmed. “Severus,” she said.

“Children, stop it. I will teach you all about hexes later, and you can practice them. But first you must master years one and two. Hexes aren’t until year four,” Severus said.

The teens grinned, more excited than ever. “He is joking, Mom,” Buffy told her mother, who was looking more and more upset. She turned to Severus, daring him to argue.

“There will be no hexing,” he assured Joyce. No need to tell her about the Weasley twins' special aptitude with them.

They said goodbye to Kendra and her watcher, and then gathered into the living room. “I have a portkey that will take us all at once,” Severus said. “It will feel really strange, but you must not let go of the key until you land at Hogwarts.”

“What happens if you let go?” Xander asked.

Severus gave him a pointed look. “It is best not to let go,” he said.

“Don’t forget to write,” Joyce said. “I will work on getting things ready at my end.”

“Albus would be delighted to have you join us at Hogwarts. Did you receive a letter from him yet?” Severus asked her.

She nodded. “Yes. I am to teach art history and art,” she said. “I’m not sure how well I’ll do, though.”

“You will be fine,” he said. “The students aren’t like American muggles. They will treat you with respect and do what you ask.”

“That’s good,” she said, smiling at him. She had decided to forgive him for not telling her about his magical abilities. After all, it wasn’t like she would’ve believed him before learning about Buffy.

He held out his hand, and she took it. “I have some things you need to know, so I will write you,” he said.

“I look forward to hearing from you,” Joyce said. When he gave her a small smile, her pulse sped up. She felt young again.

Buffy was watching her parents with interest and nudged Willow. “Do you see that?” she whispered.

Willow nodded. “There’s some major sparkage,” she whispered back.

“Now, children, I expect you to behave while at the enchanted castle,” Giles said to them, giving Joyce and Severus a moment of privacy as they all looked at him.

“It’s an enchanted castle, Giles,” Xander said. “I think you’re asking too much of us!”

“That’s my point,” Giles said. “A place as big as Hogwarts will have many things that could cause you some problems. It’s not an amusement park.”

“We know, Giles. We’ll be careful,” Buffy assured him. Her friends echoed him.

“I hope we’re going to get to go to London and see the sights,” Cordelia said. “My dad bought me a new camera. I want to take pictures.”

“I will need to check in with the Council, so we can do so at some point,” Giles said.

“Are you ready?” Severus asked, stepping away from Joyce.

“Yep!” Buffy said. She hugged her mother. “Bye, Mom. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“Be careful, sweetie,” Joyce said. She watched them all put their hand on a large umbrella. What? An umbrella? Then they blinked away, and she stood staring at the empty space a long moment. Then she went and grabbed her keys. She had a new manager to train.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_I hope this answered the Amy questions you might have had. Not attached to her character enough to bring her into the story, but I can see her helping Kendra. Not sure that Kendra can survive Spike and Dru even with Angel’s help. The next chapter DOES have them finally arriving at the school_


	8. Hogwarts

anding in Scotland outside the gates of Hogwarts was rough on the Scooby crew. Xander threw up, and Cordelia yelled at him for grossing her out. Buffy recovered the quickest and stood staring at the castle.

"Wow! Pictures just don't do this place justice," she said, awestruck.

"No," Giles said. "It is quite lovely."

"Now remember what I said," Severus warned. "The entire place is enchanted. There are ghosts that are a part of the place—one even teaches history."

"Seriously?" Cordelia said. "They couldn't find a warm body to teach a class, so they resort to the dead? How lazy is that!"

Severus smiled in approval at his niece. He thought the same thing, but he chose to ignore her comment. "Armor also may move as if a person is in it, but don't be alarmed," he said.

"Now that's just creepy!" Xander said, shuddering.

"I agree," Willow added, feeling anxious.

"The staircases move of their own accord, so it's easy to get lost. It's best that you not venture off alone," he said. "Paintings have animated people in them that will speak to you, and you can ask them for direction."

"A built-in friend for the loser here," Cordelia said, smirking at Xander.

"Don't you mean built-in Cordettes as you left your entourage back home," Xander countered.

She scoffed. "Please, I will find another," she predicted.

"Let's not bicker," Giles said.

Buffy looked at the forest behind them, feeling her skin crawl. "There are baddies in that forest," she said.

"It is the Forbidden Forest," her father said. "It is restricted for students, but yes, it has dark creatures in it."

"You know I can't live this close to evil and not kill something, right?" she said.

"I am sure that the headmaster will allow you and I to weed at any dangerous creatures," Giles said.

"That's good because I won't be able to sleep at night with that place so close," she said, clenching her fists. Her senses told her that there were many evil creatures in it.

"Come," Severus said, leading them into the door of the castle.

The teenagers were struck silent as they entered the castle.

"Children are here!" a voice said. Willow screamed when she saw a ghost with his head hanging off.

"Didn't Albus warn you to stay put and not frighten the Americans?" Severus scolded.

"I have never seen any Americans before," the ghost said, looking down at them curiously.

"Don't be frightened," Severus told them. "This is Nearly Headless Nick. One of the main ghosts that haunt the place."

"So you have to go around when your neck like that forever?" Xander asked, fascinated. "That's gotta suck!"

"It is unpleasant," the ghost agreed.

Willow felt sorry for the ghost. "Oh, you poor thing! With all the witches here, you'd think someone would've figured out how to fix your neck," she said.

"They don't bother with us," Nearly Headless Nick said woefully.

"I'm sorry," Willow said, feeling sad.

"He's dead, Willow. He can't feel any pain," Buffy assured her. "Right?"

"Of course," Giles agreed, looking up at the poltergeist in fascination.

"Come along, children," Severus said, taking them to Albus' office.

They gaped at the portraits that commented on them as they walked by.

"This place is giving me the wiggins," Buffy said. The magic was overwhelming her slayer senses.

"It will get easier for you," Giles assured her. "Your slayer side will acclimate to the magic around you."

"I will take you to Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster," Severus said. "He is looking forward to meeting you."

Xander snickered when they made it to a picture that actually looked at them with curiosity, and when Severus gave the password, "Gumdrops," it opened.

"I guess the headmaster has a sweet tooth," Willow remarked.

"I couldn't imagine Snyder craving anything but the blood of his students!" Xander quipped. Willow and Buffy giggled appreciatively at his crack while Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm spending the summer with you losers," she complained.

" _We_ can't believe we have to spend the summer with _you_!" Xander countered.

When they made it before Dumbledore, they had trouble containing both amusement and awe. Willow was very excited. "He looks like Merlin!" she said.

Xander grinned. "Nope, this is Gandalf the Grey," he said.

Buffy and Cordelia both opened their mouth to weigh in when Severus glared at Cordelia and elbowed his daughter. "Forgive them, Albus. They are undisciplined and American," he said as if that explained it. It felt good that he was already learning his daughter and how she would react.

"Sorry," Willow said, turning red. "I was just surprised."

"I've been called worse," Albus said with a warm smile.

"Sir, this is Rupert Giles, Buffy Anne's watcher," Severus introduced.

"It's a pleasure," Giles said, shaking his hand. "Thank you for making a place for me."

"It is a history making opportunity," Albus said. "The relationship between your Council and the Ministry is mostly non-existent these days."

"I did not really know you all existed," Giles admitted. "I heard rumors as a young man, but nothing definitive."

"Only a few who have had a family tradition of knowing us are still aware," Albus said. "I have only one contact at your council myself."

"This is Buffy Anne, my daughter," Severus introduced, a note of pride clearly evident.

"Welcome, my dear. It warms my heart to see Severus' daughter here with us," Albus said, shaking Buffy's hand.

"Thanks. I really appreciate you letting my friends come," she said.

"They are welcome," Albus said, eying them with interest. He saw the mischievous look of Alexander and grinned. Willow was so earnest and sweet looking while Cordelia looked bored. The slayer, though, was eying his bird warily. What a fascinating group of children!

"This is Willow Rosenberg, Alexander Harris, and Cordelia Chase," Severus said.

"Nice to meet you."

"Hello."

"Hey."

"Have you given Cordelia the news?" Albus asked.

Severus shook his head. "No, I have not," he said.

"What news?" Cordelia asked, showing interest.

"Should we not wait until she gets settled?" Severus asked. "Or until we know the full story?"

"I think it best she know her family," Albus said sincerely.

"What family? What do you mean?" Cordelia asked.

"The blood test that we did on all of you indicated that only you had any family here," Severus said.

"Really?" Cordelia said. "I know that I'm adopted."

"You're adopted?" Xander asked in surprise. "How can we not know that?"

"Because we're not friends," Cordelia said with a shrug. "My parents told me when I was five. They adore me, so it's no big deal."

"Well, your relation is a big deal to us," Severus said. "I'm not sure if Buffy mentioned to you that I had a younger sister that went missing when she was your age."

"We don't really talk," Cordelia said.

"My sister was found dead months later, and it looked as if muggles had killed her," Severus said.

"I'm sorry," Cordelia said, unsure why he was telling her his personal business.

"It turns out that _you_ are my sister's daughter," Severus said.

"What?" Cordelia asked.

"No way!" Buffy said in disbelief.

"I am you uncle, Cordelia," Severus said.

"That makes Buffy your cousin!" Willow said, looking bugged eyed.

Xander kept looking back and forth between the two girls and then at Severus. "I can see you have Severus' nose," he said Cordelia.

Cordelia kicked him hard in the shin. Then she turned back to Severus. "Who's my father?" she asked.

"His name was Regulus Black, a younger son of a prominent pureblood family," Severus said. "He is also dead."

"Wow! That's total crapage all around," Cordelia muttered. It wasn't like she needed a new set of parents, but this was depressing.

"There's much more to tell you, but we should get you all settled," Severus said.

"Yes," Albus agreed. "I was thinking we should get some students to come help get them caught up."

"I suppose," Severus said.

"The Weasleys would be most helpful. Percy and the twins," Albus said.

"Is Percy not working now for the Ministry?" Severus said.

"Yes, but I will ask if he might come on Saturdays. He was an excellent student," Albus said.

"I suppose Granger would be a good choice," Severus said.

"You know that would mean Potter and Ron Weasley," Albus said, a twinkle in his eye.

Severus looked disgusted. "Fine. Potter can tutor them in DDA. The twins potions. Ron year one. Granger, everything else that Percy doesn't," Severus said. "They can meet with professors once or twice a week for testing and evaluations."

"I hope we'll have time to have some fun while we're here," Xander muttered.

"Tomorrow, you will need to take them to Diagon Alley to shop," Albus said. He looked at Xander. "I'm sure you'll find that fun."

"I suppose I must," Severus said, not looking forward to it.

"Will we get our wands?" Willow asked eagerly.

"Yes, you must have one to get caught up. Normally, students cannot do magic in the summer, but obviously an exception will be made for all of you," Severus said.

"Rupert, I have your room designed so that there is a large training room for you and Buffy," Albus said.

"Really? That's wonderful," Giles said.

"We've decided that we'll not broadcast that Buffy is the slayer," Severus said. "If it comes necessary to reveal it, we will share it. I haven't yet spoken to the children about the threats that exist in our world."

"There's a hellmouth nearby?" Cordelia asked.

"No," Severus said. "There's some dark wizards that believe purebloods are superior and want to rule over or kill muggles and some blood traitors or mudbloods."

"Mudblood is a very offensive word," Albus said. "Don't ever say it. It's the most derogatory thing a person can say to another wizard."

"Like a racial slur?" Willow asked.

"Yes," Albus said. "Dark wizards are called Death Eaters. They followed this wizard named Voldemort who believed in the superiority of purebloods. He killed many people, specifically Harry Potter's parents, one of our students. Harry was a baby and survived the killing curse."

"That's horrible," Buffy said.

"What's a pureblood?" Xander asked.

"It is when a person has a magical father and mother. A blood traitor is someone who consorts with muggles or advocates for the rights of non-purebloods," Severus explained.

"That's very uncool," Buffy said in disapproval.

"These purebloods wizard sound like the Nazis who killed my people," Willow said. "There were six million Jews killed during the Holocaust."

Albus looked surprised. "Really?"

"How could you not know of the Holocaust?" Cordelia asked incredulously. "Aren't you, like, the head guy? Shouldn't you know basic history?"

Severus gave her a disgusted look. "Cordelia, one does not speak to the headmaster that way!" he scolded.

"Sorry," Cordelia said, not that repentant.

"Most wizards know little of muggle history," Albus said, unoffended.

"Talk about sticking your head in the sand," Cordelia muttered. She was feeling out of sorts and had no patience for ignorance. How could she be related to Buffy Summers, the drama queen slayer? It was just insane! Both her bio parents were dead. Man, did she have the worst luck ever.

"Anyway," Severus said, giving her a pointed glare that she was, of course, oblivious to. "There's more to share about the dynamics, and I'll tell you over dinner. Let's get settled into your rooms."

"If we're going to have the Weasleys here, we may as well put them in Gryffindor tower for the summer," Albus said. "Unless you'd rather put them in your house?"

"I want a room near my father," Buffy said.

"And I want a room with Buffy," Willow said.

"I don't care," Cordelia said.

"They can have rooms in Slytherin," Albus said. "We'll put Alexander with the Weasleys and Potter."

"Fine," Severus said.

"Rupert, I will show you your room," Albus said. "It is near the Gryffindor hall, so Alexander, you may come with us."

They all left his office and were led to their rooms. Severus took them down to the basement were his quarters were. "It's like _Night of the Living Dead_ down here," Cordelia said.

"I bet it's totally private," Willow said.

"The students' hall isn't far," Severus said. "But I'm quite happy here."

"It suits you," Buffy said, looking round.

"That is the door to my room," Severus said, pointing. "A bit further is your rooms."

"Who are these children?" the painting asked. The man looked disapproving.

"These are students who will be attending in the fall," Severus said. He looked at the girls. "The password is pureblood, but you can change it."

"Of course, we're going to change it! That's offensive!" Willow said hotly.

"How about Sevvie?" Buffy said, winking at her father.

"How about _not_?" Severus said with a glare.

"Scoobies!" Willow said.

"That's fine," Buffy said.

"Buffy, if you and Cordelia will come to my room in half hour, there's some thing we need to discuss," Severus said. "Willow, I have no doubt that Alexander will attempt to find you, so feel free to find him first. He's up a floor to the right."

"What if the staircase moves?" Willow asked anxiously.

"Then enjoy your tour of the castle," Severus said with a smirk.

The girls laughed at Willow's expression as they pushed her inside the room.

"Do we get whatever room we want?" Buffy wondered.

"There's no one here now, so why not?" Cordelia said. They explored the area, picking a room. Cordelia picked a room across from theirs. Since neither girl really wanted to share a room with Cordelia, they didn't protest. Buffy wasn't ready to treat Cordelia like family. It was strange enough getting use to her father.

After they unpacked, Buffy and Cordelia helped Willow find her way to Xander. Then they tried to get back to Severus, but the staircase actually did move.

"Oh my God! This place is insane!" Cordelia said, clutching the rail.

"Well, it'll never be dull," Buffy said with a grin. "Plus, there's no Snyder."

"True," Cordelia said. "I have a feeling that your dad is the scariest thing in this school."

Buffy snickered. "You're totally right! He's this school's Big Bad!" she remarked. "Okay, we need to go down to get to his room."

They went down one hall and then another. Finally, Buffy just started screaming, "Father!" at the top of her lungs.

Cordelia laughed. "Your voice is echoing! How can he not hear you? Are we in the right wing?" Cordelia asked.

"How would I know?" Buffy asked.

"Don't you have like some slayer sense that lets you know where to go?" Cordelia asked.

Buffy snorted. "That's not a super power, Cordy. I can sense dark creatures, not directions," she said.

"That's too bad," Cordelia said. "Oh, I recognize that ugly portrait there!"

"Excuse me?" the lady in the painting said. "Who are you calling ugly?"

"I'm never going to get used to that!" Buffy said, shuddering.

"It's a bit much," Cordelia said. "What's the protocol? Do I apologize to the painting?"

"You wouldn't even apologize to me if you said that," Buffy pointed out.

"That's true," Cordelia acknowledged with a shrug.

"This is it," Buffy said. She knocked on the door.

"What took you so long?" Severus said when he opened it.

"We got lost," Buffy said. "Didn't you hear us screaming?"

"No, I didn't," Severus said, shutting the door behind them. The girls looked around his quarters, poking into everything. He suppressed his natural inclination to reprimand them. These girls were his family, and he wanted them to be comfortable in his space.

"What's this?" Buffy asked, looking up at a large banner with her name on it. "Why are our names on it?"

"Cordelia's wasn't until she arrived here," Severus said. "It's my family tapestry. The spell on you blocked you from showing up. When you died and appeared on this, that's when I knew something had happened. Cordelia didn't show up at all. I'm assuming that your father did some type of cloaking spell on you, aided by the hellmouth's interference."

"So this is really weird, you know," Cordelia said. She was related to Buffy. How messed up was that? At least she had a cool uncle who had magical powers. That was nice.

"Please have a seat," Severus said. "Do you want tea?"

"The answer to that question, Father, is always no," Buffy said with a grin. "We drink soda, bottles of cold water, or an occasional Gatorade or mocha."

"I'll try to remember," he said dryly. "Hot chocolate?"

"Well, yea," Cordelia said.

Buffy giggled. "So tell us, Sev, about Cordelia's dad. Was he a bad man? Did he kidnap your sister?" Buffy asked.

"I want to start at the beginning," Severus said. "Have a seat." He shared a bit about how difficult some things in Hogwarts were—how Sirius Black and James Potter bullied him mercilessly, pushing him to listen when dark wizards began talking about pure bloods and blood traitors. "I liked knowing that some people out there besides me hated Black and Potter. Of course, their other best friend Lupin was as bad, and he was a werewolf—those are really looked down upon in our community for the tainted blood."

"Okay, you know this pure blood bullshit isn't going to work with us, right?" Cordelia said in annoyance. "We're Americans. People are better because of how much money they have or how talented they are. Or how beautiful or sexy they are. Blood and race have nothing to do with that. That's so last century of you guys!"

Buffy was a bit surprised by Cordelia stance. "I figured you'd love this pure blood crap as you already think you're better than just about everyone," Buffy said.

"Not everyone—just most people," Cordelia said with a smug smile. "And that's because of my money, my style, and my beauty."

Buffy rolled her eyes. Had she really been as arrogant as Cordelia?

"Well, for me, the Dark Lord's message was well received," Severus said. Sensing their questions, he answered: "Dark Lord is what we called Voldemort. When he was a student here, his name was Tom Riddle. Ironically, he himself was not a pure blood, but a mudblood."

"I thought you weren't supposed to say that ugly word," Buffy said, frowning in disapproval.

"Anyway," Severus said, ignoring her, "I began attending Death Eater meetings."

Both girls looked at each other and began giggling. "Oh, please tell me that's not a real thing!" Buffy exclaimed. "Death eater? That's the lamest name ever!"

"Totally!" Cordelia agreed.

"They were black cloaks and white face masks, and they have this tattoo," he said, showing them his forearm.

Buffy lost her laughter. "You took their mark? How could you do that?" she demanded.

"I did it after the girl I was in love with married James Potter, and my sister was killed by muggles," Severus said. "Your mother happened in the short window between those events. I now don't think muggles killed my sister at all."

"You don't?" Buffy asked.

He shook his head. "I'm beginning to think another Death Eater, or the Dark Lord did," he said. "Most believe that it was a fellow Death Eater that killed Regulus."

"He was one, too?" Cordelia asked, getting upset.

"He wasn't a good one," Severus said. "He was the younger son of the esteemed House of Black. Blacks have a long history of being dark wizards. Sirius was the first to not be sorted in our house. He was a Gryffindor, and he embraced all that group stood for. His family disowned him."

"So what do you think happened? Do you think he kidnapped your sister?" Buffy asked.

"I can't really see him doing that," Severus said. "We'll have to talk to Sirius and see if he can find out anything. He's the only one who could get into their family home. If your father left any message, he would've left it there."

"I have another uncle?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes, the man is still alive—unfortunately," Severus said sourly. "He was framed for the murder of Lily and James Potter, and he spent the past thirteen years in our prison. He recently escaped, however."

"Man, my family really sucks," Cordelia said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"Well, you have us now," Buffy said with a knowing smirk.

"Lucky me," Cordelia muttered. She didn't really know how to feel about being related to Buffy Summers, and her conflicting emotions were making her feel unsettled.

"Look, I loathe Sirius, and I can't really stand Harry Potter, who looks like his father and gets into just as much trouble," Severus said. "But he has Lily's eyes, and I will protect him with my life. You can't say anything about all this to anyone where I'm concerned. I don't know what house you'll be sorted in even if I can make a good guess, but I appear to everyone to be a Death Eater or a sympathizer of theirs because Albus uses me as a spy. Only a very select few know of my role." He would tell her about the Order at another time.

"Really?" Buffy said, feeling scared for him. "That can't be good. I think you need to stop that before you get killed."

"I can't. Not now. Voldemort hasn't yet taken physical form, but his spirit is back. I have to know what he's planning," Severus said. "It's a dangerous game, but it's one I must play. As my family, you will be targets to one degree or another."

"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked.

"If you're sorted in my house, your housemates will expect you to be followers of the Dark Lord as the Slytherin House has been tainted with their dogma for years now," Severus said. "The house stands for cunning and ambition, not evil—contrary to what the Weasleys or Potter might tell you."

"What if we're put in another house?" Buffy asked.

"Then you'll be looked on with suspicion because of your relation to me," Severus said.

"Well, we'll deal," Buffy said. "It won't be the first time I've been looked upon with suspicion."

"No matter who you befriend in my house, don't talk about me being a spy," Severus said. "Don't talk about it with anyone."

"Not even Willow?" Buffy asked.

"I don't see Willow being able to dissemble," Severus said.

"That's true," Buffy said.

"Just tell her that there are unfounded rumors about me, and I wanted to warn you not to be upset by it because I didn't let it bother me any," Severus said. "That's not untrue."

"Okay," Buffy said, not sure how she would react if anyone started badmouthing her father. "You do know I'll probably react poorly to anyone that criticizes you, right?"

"I won't be shocked," he said with a smirk. "Just don't go using your slayer strength on anyone."

"Well, if that Voldy guy gets a body, I'm so going to slay his ass!" Buffy informed him.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," he said, giving her a loving smile. Voldemort better stay incorporeal because it wouldn't be Harry Potter that he should fear.

The fact that there was a prophecy that he couldn't be destroyed without Potter's involvement was a story for another day. Unlike Albus, Severus no longer believed that their salvation rested in Harry.

_*****Chapter End*****_

_If you're bother by Snape's openness, sorry, but this story is about his redemption. I think he would try his best to win his daughter's love and approval._


	9. Shop 'til You Drop

_******Diagon Alley******_

The Sunnydale crew was both impressed and freaked out by all the things they saw as they walked in Diagon Alley. The use of magic so openly was startling and amazing.

"I feel like I'm in some dream except not even my dreams are this strange," Xander said as he saw someone actually ride by on a broom.

"We'll go get wands first since that can take the longest," Severus said.

"How hard can that be?" Buffy wondered.

"Matching a wand to a witch and wizard is much harder than you'd think because you have to find the perfect wand to match the gift and personality of the witch or wizard," Severus explained. He paused at a shop that said _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._

"Fine wands? Not fine wine?" Xander asked with a snicker.

"You are such a plebian," Cordelia said with a sniff.

"I know you are but what am I?" Xander taunted.

"Behave," Giles said, giving them a cool look. Severus opened the door, and they walked inside.

The owner of the shop that made wands greeted them with a smile.

"Well, hello, Professor Snape," he said.

"Children, this is Ollivander, the finest wand maker in Great Britain," Severus said. "Ollivander, this is Rupert Giles of the Watcher's Council—he's going to be teaching ancient languages and assisting with Muggle Studies this year."

"Why, it's been a long time since I met any councilmen," Ollivander said, shaking Giles' hand.

"It's a pleasure," Giles said. "Not many of us are fortunate enough to know about the Wizarding World."

"And who do we have here? I heard that some American children would be attending Hogwarts in the fall," Ollivander said.

"Yes, that's true," Severus said. "They are woefully behind, however, so we are starting them this summer. This is my daughter Buffy Anne Summers-Snape, her classmates from Sunnydale, California—"

"The hellmouth?" Ollivander asked in surprise.

Severus nodded. "Yes. The hellmouth interferes with detecting witches, so all of them were untrained, and they will be needing wands," he said.

"Well, it is nice to meet all of you," he said, smiling at the teenagers. "We will start with you, Miss Snape. Hold up your wand arm."

"Which arm is that?" she asked.

"Whatever arm you'd use a stake in," Severus said.

"Oh," Buffy said, holding up her right arm. The man measured it, which she thought was really weird. It was a stick she kept in her hand. What did the size of her arms have to do with anything? But she didn't want to embarrass her father, so she stayed quiet.

"Hmmm. The hellmouth. I wonder. . ." he said, his voice fading as he grabbed a box from the shelf. "I've never tried this wand with anyone as it never felt right for any of folks that came in here, but I have a feeling it will work for you."

Buffy grabbed the stick, finding the word wand totally strange. A rush of energy seemed to come from it, and she gripped it harder. "This is so weird!" she exclaimed.

"Why?" Willow asked.

"I feel, like, power or something coming from it," she said.

"The power is coming from you, dear," Ollivander said. "The wand is simply channeling it. Give it whirl."

Severus smiled encouragingly. "Just flick it like you did mine," he said.

Buffy nodded and did so and a rainbow of colors came out of it. Her friends clapped.

"This wand is very special," Ollivander said. "An eleven-inch black walnut with a core of a vampire hair and a drop of slayer's blood."

"A vampire slayer?" Giles asked, startled. "How did you get such a thing?"

"This wand was made over a century ago," he said. "That's about how long it's been since a slayer was a witch."

"So it has happened? I haven't had a chance to research it yet," Giles said.

"Her name was Amelia Alexandria Cornwell," Ollivander said. "The last Scottish slayer, I do believe and a witch. She had magnificent red hair, and she obtained a bit of blood from a vampire she either slew or fought. I'm afraid the record of the vampire's identity was lost."

"Fascinating," Giles said.

"And appropriate," Severus said.

"My turn," Cordelia said, holding out her arm.

"This is my niece, Cordelia Chase-Black," Severus said. Ollivander looked shocked.

"Please don't speak of it, but she is the daughter of Regulus Black and my late sister," Severus explained.

Ollivander looked solemn as he nodded and began to measure her arm. He handed her a wand, and she flicked it. Smoke came out of it.

"This is broken," Cordelia said, handing it back.

"No, it just won't work for the wrong person," Ollivander explained. He grabbed another. "Try this. It's twelve-inch cherry with a unicorn core."

"Unicorns are real?" Cordelia asked in awe as she grabbed it from him. He nodded, so she flicked it, gasping as purple sparkles came from it.

"That's so cool!" Willow said, smiling at her.

"This is Willow Rosenberg," Severus said.

Ollivander looked at her closely. "Try this. It is a nine-inch oak with drop of dragon's blood—quite powerful," he said.

Willow was nervous as she grabbed the wand, but she calmed as soon as she gripped it. Confidence filled her as she waved it and a fountain of gold rays poured out of it.

"Wow!" she said.

"That's awesome, Will!" Xander said, clapping.

"A fine wand," Giles said, smiling at her.

"My last student is named Alexander Harris, and he, like the three of them, was born in Sunnydale," Severus said. "Only my daughter wasn't."

"Another child of the hellmouth. . .Hmm. . Let's see," Ollivander said as he grabbed a box. "Try this one."

Xander eagerly grabbed it and gave it a flick. A fire broke out. "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed.

"It's fine. Happens all the time," Ollivander said as he put the fire out with a flick of his own wand. "Try this one."

Xander took it and gave it a wave and tore a hole the nearby wall. "Crap!"

"No problem," Ollivander said. He gave Xander another. And another. Thirty minutes later, his shop was destroyed, and there still was no wand that worked right with Xander.

"Maybe I'm not really a wizard," Xander said, feeling discouraged.

"No, if you weren't, nothing would happen when you waved it," Ollivander said.

"This happens, Alexander," Severus said. "It's not always easy."

Ollivander stood lost in thought. "Hmm. I don't know if I have one here. I might have to make you one special," he said. Then he remembered. "I do have one more we can try." He got on his ladder and went to a very high shelf. When he got down, he opened the box and took out a very long wand. "This is a thirteen-inch mahogany with a Tasmanian Devil hair as the core."

"Tasmanian Devil?" Xander asked in dismay.

"There is no such thing as Tasmanian Devils," Buffy said. "It's just a cartoon."

"Oh, but there is," Ollivander said. "They are rare and mostly live in Australia."

"Somehow, I think this wand is going to work," Cordelia said with a smirk. "It's got the word devil in it!"

Excited, Xander grabbed it in his hand and felt a warm glow. "I think this is it!" he said excitedly. He waved it and a blaze of red came out of it, but it wasn't fire.

"Finally," Severus said in relief.

"Are you paying for all of them or do I ring them up individually?" Ollivander asked.

"All at once," Severus said.

"That will be thirty-seven galleons," Ollivander said.

Severus handed some money. "Where to next?" Buffy asked.

"I wanna go to that joke shop I saw. I can't believe this place has something so cool!" Xander said.

"Clothes. We have to get clothes," Cordelia said.

"You will be fitted for robes before the terms starts unless you're dying to get your robes now?" Severus asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Robes? You mean those dresses you wear?" Cordelia said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"They are wizard robes worn by both witches and wizards, and you will wear them every day you attend Hogwarts," Severus said sternly.

"Fashion is not something Scotland is known for," Buffy said. "We can wear what we want under the robes, right?"

"Of course," Severus said.

"I want to visit the clothes stores to see what they have," Cordelia said.

"There's a candy store, too," Willow said.

"Honeydukes does have the finest chocolate around," Ollivander added. "Enjoy your wands."

They all walked out of the shop carrying their wands.

"So where am I supposed to put this thing?" Cordelia asked. She grabbed her hair and put it in a bun and stuck her wand through to hold it in place. "Never mind. This works."

Severus looked horrified. "You cannot do that!" he scolded.

"It's no big," Cordelia said with a shrug. "If I need it, I can grab it easily. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that one does not treat a wand in such a fashion," Severus informed her. Buffy quickly followed and did the same thing with hers.

"My hair doesn't do that," Willow said, shoving hers in her back pocket where Xander had already put his.

"I believe that if you had a robe on, you'd have a nice pocket designed for such an item," Giles said.

"Good to know," Buffy said. "Now where's that candy store?"

Severus looked pained as he trailed after the kids. More than one passing witch noticed and looked shocked at the wands in the girls' hair.

"It's best to pick your battles," Giles told him.

"Why do I have a feeling that these children are never going to do what's proper and expected?" Severus asked.

"Because you're a smart fella," Giles said with a smirk. "I'm going to go check out the bookstore. I suggest you bring them there next, so they can procure books for study."

"After eating sugary treats, I can't see them doing that," Severus said.

"Willow will always want to go to a bookstore, and you do have the money," Giles reminded him before he went across the street.

"Joke store first!" Xander said. "It's closer!"

Severus sighed in resignation and followed the children.

***** _A Few Hours Later*****_

Four very happy teenagers and two exhausted adults arrived back at Hogwarts before dark. Minerva greeted them when they came in, curious to meet the newest arrivals as she had been away at breakfast.

"Was the outing a success?" Minerva asked, smiling at the group.

"Need you ask," Severus said, glaring.

"We had so much fun!" Buffy said. "Father bought me a wand, some delish chocolates, two new pairs of shoes, and some clothes."

"Minerva, I don't think you've been introduced to my daughter," Severus said. "This is Buffy Anne. That's Cordelia, my niece, and Willow and Xander. Children, this is Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor. Gryffindor rooms are in Gryffindor tower. The entry is guarded by the fat lady."

"That's kind of mean, Professor," Willow said with a disapproving frown.

Minerva smiled. "It's what the students call the painting. You give her the password to get to the rooms," she explained.

"Cool. That's the house where all the brave kids go, right?" Buffy asked. "Why yes," she said.

"And the brash, impulsive, and often idiotic students go," Severus added.

"I think that totally describes the three of you," Cordelia said. Then she glanced at Willow. "Well, at least two of you."

Buffy grinned. "What do you think, Giles?" she asked, turning to her watcher.

"This is Rupert Giles, my daughter's Watcher," Severus added.

Minerva's eyes widened at the implication. "Oh my," she said. "It is nice to meet you."

Giles greeted the woman and shook her hand. "Likewise," he said. "Slayers are creatures of darkness," Severus said to Buffy. "They are driven to succeed at any cost. You very well might be in my house."

"That's true," Giles acknowledged.

"Well, why don't we go to Professor Dumble's office and put on his freaky hat and see!" Buffy said.

"Dumbledore," Minerva corrected, giving her a stern look. "His name is Dumble- _door_. You will do well to remember how to correctly pronounce the names of the professors, no matter how difficult. It is not acceptable to show such disrespect."

Giles muttered, "Good luck with that."

"No disrespect meant, ma'am," Buffy said, giving her a winsome smile. "I just can't ever recall names well. I'd much rather call him Albie, which he totally looks like!"

Severus groaned and glared at his imp of a daughter. "Please never utter that again!" he ordered.

Minerva was torn between amusement and outrage. However, the amusement won as she saw that Severus' daughter was going to have him tied up in knots. She glanced at Buffy Anne's Watcher, who gave her a knowing look. She had a feeling that the man knew exactly how much trouble his slayer was going to cause. To think, a vampire slayer at Hogwarts. She never thought she'd live to see the day.

Severus Snape was the father of an American vampire slayer.

"Oh dear," she muttered as they all walked toward their quarters.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_I just totally see the American teens doing things very differently and questioning everything. I know Luna would put her wand in her hair in kind of an absent-minded way. I see it as the Snape girls making it a fad, however._


	10. Summer Friends

_*****The Weasleys*****_

“Arthur,” Molly called out. “We received a missive from Albus.”

Her husband came over to read over her shoulder. “Albus requests that we send the twins and Ron to Hogwarts for the next two months to help tutor four American transfer students previously unidentified,” she read. “He sent a request for Percy to come on Saturdays for a few hours as he was head boy. He will be asking Hermione and Harry also.”

“Ron? He wants Ron to be a tutor?” Arthur asked in surprise.

“Probably because he knows that Ron would be terribly upset to miss out if Harry and Hermione were involved,” she said. “He can tutor some things. If they are completely unschooled, they will need a lot of help.”

“I’m not sure the boys will want to give up their summer break to tutor,” Arthur said doubtfully.

“Well, you know Harry and Hermione will, and Ron will want to be with them,” Molly said.

“Ask them and see,” Arthur said. “Boys, come in here!”

Ron came from the other room. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Go find your brothers. Albus sent a letter that concerns the three of you,” Molly said.

“What for?” Ron asked, confused.

“Just get them here, and I will explain,” she ordered impatiently.

Ron went and grabbed his brothers, and Ginny came into the room. “What’s happening, Mother?” she asked, sitting on the sofa.

“Albus has a request of the boys,” she explained.

“Not me?” she asked, frowning. She was always left out of everything. It wasn’t fair.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Molly said. “We will go visit Charlie and see his dragon, okay?”

Ginny’s eyes brightened at the thought. She loved her big brother and didn’t see him nearly enough since he left home.

“What do you need, Mother?” one of her twins said. She thought it was George.

“Albus sent a note for you guys,” Arthur said.

“It seems that he would like you to help tutor four American students that are newly discovered witches for two months this summer,” Molly explained.

“Witches? Are these attractive American girls?” Fred asked with a hopeful look.

“In need of handsome redheads to brighten their days?” George added with a grin.

“What can I teach them?” Ron wondered.

“Albus is going to have Harry and Hermione come also, and he probably figured you’d hate being left out,” Molly said.

“Cuz what can little Ronnikins teach anyone?” George asked with a superior smirk.

“How to put up with the two of you annoying twits,” Ron asked with a glare.

“Nice. That was almost witty,” George said with a wink.

“I am so proud,” Fred added with fake dramatics.

“Cut it out,” Ron said.

“I’m sure, honey, you can help them with their first and second years at the very least,” Molly said.

“Or teach them about quidditch,” Ginny added. “I bet they won’t know anything about that if they’re new.”

“Not know about quidditch?” Ron asked, horrified. “How can any self-respecting witch or wizard not know about quidditch?”

“They are newly discovered,” Arthur added.

“And Americans,” Molly said.

“Sounds exciting,” George said.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to take away from our fun time,” Fred replied.

“Think of how much fun we will have corrupting the newbies?” George said with a grin.

Fred brightened. “True. And we need new people to test our products on,” he said.

“Great. Make the Americans hate the Brits right from the start,” Ron complained.

“I’ll write Albus and let him know. You can come home on weekends if you like,” Molly said.

“That’s fine, Mum,” Fred said. “We will go pack.”

“It will be glad to see Harry,” Ron said. “I don’t like that he has to go back home to those people. They aren’t good to him.”

Molly looked sad as she nodded. “I know,” she said. “I do believe, though, with the appearance of his dangerous godfather on the loose, Harry can keep them in line.”

Ron smiled. “Yea, Harry mentioned that when he wrote me,” Ron said. “I’ll get ready.”

After their children left, Arthur looked at his wife. “Americans at Hogwarts? That will make for an interesting year,” he said.

“We can find out who they are at the next Order meeting,” Molly said.

Arthur brightened at the thought. “Very true,” he said. 

Molly just hoped that Albus knew what he was doing asking her boys to help. Sure, her twins were brilliant, but they tended to use their ample intelligence for mischief. Maybe tutoring will help them focus more. “Arthur, do you think the twins will behave for the Americans? I hate to have our family embarrassed by the boys,” she said.

“No, I don’t think they’ll behave,” Arthur said with an indulgent grin. “But that’s part of their charm. You know Americans. They love rebels and creative types, so I’m sure they’ll get along famously with our boys.”

Molly brightened at the thought. “That’s very true. Americans tend to be more relaxed than the British. They’ll be fine,” she said, comforted.

Ginny remained forgotten on the couch, wishing that she could meet the Americans. Would any of them be her age? Would they be nice? She was excited to find out.

***** _Hogwarts*****_

Albus spoke to Severus after breakfast. “Severus, the Weasleys will be here today as will Miss Granger. I was thinking it might be best for you to collect Harry,” Albus said.

Severus was surprised. “I do not think I would be anyone Harry would want to speak with,” he said.

“You sent the owl to get an appointment at the Ministry to speak for Sirius, did you not?” Albus asked.

“Well, yes,” he said.

“And you told your girls about your complicated role as a double agent?” Albus said.

“Yes, but-”

“Your daughter would enjoy time alone with you, would she not?” Albus said with a smile.

Severus glared. How did the man know exactly which buttons to push? “Fine. I’ll go,” he said in resignation. “If only to witness the look on his face when he sees my appearance and meets Buffy Anne.”

“You have prepared yourself for the friendship between the two?” Albus said, a knowing look in his eyes.

Severus narrowed his eyes. “What make you so certain of that?” he asked.

“Your daughter is probably the only one Harry will ever meet who knows exactly what it means to bear the weight of so many lives and expectations. She knows the burden of prophecy,” Albus reminded him. “And she has defied prophecy, giving us new hope for Harry.”

“You do realize that my daughter will most likely have strong feelings about putting Harry in danger as he is even younger than she is?” Severus pointed out.

“I am quite prepared for the upheaval your daughter and her friends will cause this year,” Albus said easily. “Are you?”

Severus just gave him a cross look and walked away. _Damn the manipulative bastard_ , he thought.

After explaining things to his daughter and reminding him about his role and Harry’s strong dislike of him, they apparated to Harry’s house. 

“Uggh! That was so not cool, Sevvie,” Buffy said, glaring at her father as her insides tried to settle.

“That’s Father, remember?” he said with a pointed frown.

Buffy looked around. They were in a normal looking neighborhood with a modest two-story house in front of them. She heard shouting coming from the house. “You worthless son-of-a-bitch! I told you to clean up Dursley’s room!” a woman shouted.

“I am not cleaning up that lazy pig’s mess!” another voice came back. It was a voice that Severus recognized.

“How dare you call my son a pig! Your disgusting freak!” a woman screamed.

“I’m just saying what’s obvious by looking at him!” Harry said.

“You get back here, boy!” a man yelled. “I’ll teach you to insult my son!” a man said.

“Father, we need to get him out of that house,” Buffy whispered as they walked up the front steps.

“You touch me, and my godfather will curse you!” Harry threatened.

Severus snorted at the idle threat, but he couldn’t blame the boy for getting protection where he could.

The front door opened before they could knock, and a young teenage, who looked to be a bit younger than Buffy, stood staring in surprise at her. He glanced Severus. “Professor? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Hi!” Buffy said, giving him a friendly smile.

Harry blinked at her warmth, a sharp contrast to the cold, unfriendly look from Professor Snape. “Huh?” he asked.

“I told you to get back here, boy!” a man yelled and yanked the door open all the way. He looked startled to see visitors on the doorstep. “Who are you?”

“Uncle, this is Professor Snape from my school,” Harry said, wishing he could lie on his feet like the twins.

“I am here to take Harry off your hands for the summer,” Severus said. He gave the man a cold look. “It appears that Harry needs to do some school work for the summer. I hope that won’t be a problem.”

“You want to take the worthless git, go for it,” the man snarled. “Good riddance!”

Buffy glared angrily at the man. “You’re a really crappy uncle, aren’t you? No one should talk to anyone the way you and your wife talk to him. You ought to be ashamed!” Buffy scolded.

“Why I never!” the man said, offended.

“Forgive my daughter. She is rash and ill-mannered as teenagers often are,” Severus said coolly, giving Buffy a pointed look to shut up.

The man looked mollified at Severus’ apology and stepped away. “Petunia, the professor is here to take Harry to summer school,” he said.

“Daughter?” Harry asked, looking shocked. He glanced back and forth from the two, trying to wrap his mind around the thought that this lovely vision could possibly be related so closely to Snape.

Buffy gave him a knowing grin and nodded. “Do you need help with your stuff?” she asked. She glanced at her father to make sure it was okay, and he nodded.

“Sure,” Harry said as she stepped into the house and followed him to his room. Harry was relieved that he was no longer staying under the stairs because that would have been beyond humiliating.

Buffy frowned at the sour looking woman and saw a fat teenager around her age at the top of the stairs.

“Dudley, I’m leaving for school,” Harry told him.

“Hello,” Buffy said coolly.

“Hi,” Dudley said, gaping at the beautiful young woman. “I’m Dudley. Do you go to school with Harry?”

“I’m Buffy. I will be a new student in the fall,” Buffy said.

“You don’t sound British,” Dudley said.

“Why you’re so smart,” Buffy said with heavy sarcasm. “I’m American. From California specifically.”

“Really?” Harry asked. “How did you end up the daughter of Professor Snape?”

“The old-fashioned way, I guess,” Buffy said with a smirk.

Harry flushed and stepped into his room. He went to his trunk. “We’re getting out of here, Hedwig,” he said to his owl, who made some owl sound in acknowledgment.

“That’s your owl?” Buffy asked as she looked at the pretty bird. “Father says we’ll get our pets closer to term as we have enough to worry about getting ready.”

“You can get an owl, but you don’t have to. You can use the school’s owls to send mail,” Harry said. “I just saw Hedwig and knew she was mine. Isn’t she beautiful?”

Buffy grinned at the look of love on the boy’s face for the white bird and nodded. “Yes, she is prettier than my father’s,” she said.

“Does he have an owl? I’d figured he have something black like a crow,” Harry said with a snicker.

Buffy narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to insult my father?” she asked.

“Well, not really,” Harry said quickly. “He just loves black a lot, and owls don’t come in black,” Harry said.

“He has a lovely brown owl that he calls Edward,” Buffy said.

“Oh,” Harry said as he opened his trunk and started putting things in it that he’d need for school. Once he was done, he looked around the room. “Except for Hedwig, I think that’s it.”

“Okay, you grab your owl, and I’ll take the trunk,” Buffy said, reaching down to pick it up before Harry could protest.

Harry’s eyes widened in dismay as she easily hefted the trunk onto her shoulder. “Isn’t that a bit heavy?” he asked.

“Nah, I’m stronger than I look,” she said dismissively.

Harry grabbed his owl and followed her out the door, grinning at Dudley’s look of shock as Buffy walked by him carrying the trunk.

“Buffy, put the trunk down,” Severus said when she made it to the bottom of the stairs.

“It’s not heavy,” she said.

“Maybe not, but it’s almost as big as you,” he said. He knew that she was disturbing the four people watching her carrying it. She sat it down with a shrug as her father got out his wand and spelled the trunk to float weightlessly.

“That’s cool!” Buffy said with a grin.

“We don’t allow magic in this house!” Harry’s uncle said.

“We are leaving. Come along, children,” Severus said.

“Bye!” Harry said with a happy grin. He wouldn’t have to see them until next summer.

“Bye,” Dudley said. “Bye, Buffy.”

“Later,” Buffy said, barely glancing at the teen.

Harry was still feeling a bit stunned when they made it back to Hogwarts. Finally, he turned and said to Buffy, “How can you be so strong?”

“Well, you’re pretty good with your wand, right?” Buffy asked.

He nodded. “I’m okay,” he said modestly.

“I’m good with the physical stuff,” she said with a wink.

“My daughter wasn’t raised a witch, Harry,” Severus said. “In fact, she was raised without any knowledge of myself or the world we live in. Her friends are also new to magic.”

“Except for a bit of magic spells we did to uncover a dark witch that lived in our town,” Buffy said.

“You fought a dark witch?” Harry asked impressed.

Buffy nodded. “Yep. She’d stolen her daughter’s body, and we did a spell to reveal that she was a witch. She tried to kill me, and she blinded my cousin, Cordelia,” Buffy shared. It was still weird to think of Cordy as her cousin, but she knew that’s how everyone there would see the girl. Buffy decided it was best to make out like she was comfortable with it. 

“That’s bonkers!” Harry said. “What happened to the dark witch?”

“I defeated her,” Buffy said. “Defeating bad guys is kind of my thing.”

“Really?” Harry asked in awe.

Severus saw the hero worship birth in the thorn in his side and sighed in resignation. “My daughter is quite resourceful,” he said. “Now, Harry, before we go inside there is something I need to discuss with you.”

“Yes?” he asked, wondering what the professor could possibly have to say to him.

“It’s about your godfather,” he said.

“Is he okay? Did something happen?” Harry asked anxiously.

“As far as I know, he is fine,” Severus said. “However, the way I behaved a few weeks ago was wrong. I am going to be speaking to the ministry about Peter’s guilt and Sirius’ innocence.”

“Really?” Harry asked, gaping at him. It was like he had fallen into an alternate world where Severus was nice and had this beautiful daughter with super strength of some kind. Maybe he was still asleep.

Severus nodded and glanced at Buffy, who was giving him an approving smile. “You know, Harry, that my time as a student here was difficult as Sirius, Remus, and your father made it very unpleasant for me at times,” he admitted. “They were often very cruel. Only your mother made it bearable—she was a good friend to me.”

Harry knew a little of this and nodded. It bothered him to think that his dad and godfather might’ve been bullies like Dudley. He hated bullies. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“I know you aren’t to blame, but you do look so much like your father that I sometimes get angry just looking at you,” he shared.

“Which is totally _not_ cool, Father,” Buffy said with a disapproving frown.

“Yes, Buffy, I know,” Severus said crossly. What could be worse than being chastised by one’s own child?

Harry felt reassured when he saw Severus’ normal glare. The man hadn’t been body snatched after all.

“Do you think they’ll drop the charges?” Harry asked hopefully.

“I will do my best,” he said. “However, it will make things difficult with certain Death Eaters, so you must keep quiet about my role. Can you keep this from your friends?”

Harry didn’t like to keep secrets from his two best friends, but he knew that having his godfather free and clear was worth any price. If Snape was going to act like a reasonable human being for a change, Harry could at least meet him halfway. “Yes,” he said. “Thank you, sir.”

“Come on, Harry. I have to introduce you to my friends from home,” Buffy said.

“Let the boy get his stuff to his room, Buffy,” he said.

“See you soon, Harry. We’ll be in the Gryffindor common room,” she said.

“Not Slytherin?” he asked, glancing at Snape.

“As the Weasley boys are coming, we decided your house would make the most sense,” Severus explained. “The girls, though, are staying in Slytherin house for the summer.”

Harry nodded and followed Buffy, who was back to carrying his trunk with ease as her father went in the opposite direction. “I just can’t believe that Professor Snape has a daughter that looks like you or that he cut his hair!” Harry remarked as he walked with her.

“Yes, I got him to cut his hair if I agreed to call him Father. Hank Summers, the man who raised me, is my daddy. It’s kind of weird for me, but Sevvie has been really nice,” Buffy explained. “Dad says I can stay the summer here if I go back to Los Angeles the last two weeks before school starts. I have a lot of catching up to do. You and your friends are helping with the tutoring.”

“Oh, so I don’t actually have to take classes?” Harry asked in relief.

“Nah. Father just said that because he knew your aunt and uncle would be easier to deal with,” Buffy said with a grin.

When they got to the common room, her friends looked up. A fuzzy-haired girl was already there. “Hermione!” Harry exclaimed, happy to see his best friend.

“Harry!” Hermione said as she got up to greet him with a hug. “I was just starting to miss you, and now we’re back together. Willow was telling me that Ron will be here soon with the twins. Do you think Dumbledore knows what he’s doing asking them to help?”

“Well, the twins are bloody brilliant,” Harry said, looking with interest at the other three. One had the familiar red hair. “Are you related to the Weasleys?”

Willow looked at Xander. “Are you talking to me? I’m not related to anyone. Cordy is,” she said.

“That’s Willow, my best friend,” Buffy said. She smiled at Hermione. “I’m Buffy Summers-Snape, Sevvie’s daughter.”

Hermione gaped at her. The other Americans had told her already, but she still couldn’t believe this attractive and golden girl was the daughter of Professor Snape. “Really? Wow! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Hermione Granger. Welcome to our school.”

“It’s so much better than our old school on the mouth of hell,” Xander said. The Brits gave him a strange looking, assuming he was kidding. Xander just smirked.

“Harry, that’s Xander, my other best friend,” Buffy introduced.

“Hi,” Xander said. “Glad to meet another guy with a female best friend. Will and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Along with Jesse, but he was killed by a vampire at the beginning of the school year. That’s when we met Buffy. Not that she can replace him.” He looked guilty.

“A vampire? How awful!” Hermione gushed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Buffy, put down that trunk!” Cordelia said impatiently. “You look ridiculous carrying it. You’re not a pack mule.”

“I thought you were supposed to be stealth girl again,” Xander said as Buffy put it down.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a confused look. Cordelia noticed and rolled her eyes. Buffy’s secret wouldn’t last for a month. “I’m Cordelia,” she said, smiling. “I recently discovered that my father is Regulus Black, which makes me that apishly strong girl’s cousin.”

“How does that make her your cousin?” Hermione asked.

“My mother was Severus’ younger sister, who died under suspicious circumstances,” Cordelia explained.

“You’re a Black?” Harry asked in surprise. “That means my godfather is your uncle!”

“So what are we? Godcousins?” Cordelia asked.

“No, but my parents are dead, and I only have my aunt and cousin as family, and they aren’t very nice to me,” Harry said.

“They were horrid,” Buffy said grimly.

“My adopted parents are wonderful,” Cordelia said. “But it’s good to have actual blood family even if it is Buffy. Sev is cool.”

“Thanks a lot,” Buffy said sourly.

Hermione and Harry exchanged surprised looks. Snape was cool? Americans really _were_ a strange and disturbed lot.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Harry said. “I’m going to put my stuff up. Be right back.”

“It’s so exciting to have new students,” Hermione said. “Do you think you’ll be in Gryffindor?”

“I’m not very brave,” Willow said. “But I try to be. So maybe. I love school, so maybe Ravenclaw.”

“I love school, too. I read everything!” Hermione said excitedly. “I was almost put in Ravenclaw, but the hat said I had unrealized courage and that I’d do better in Gryffindor. It was right because I’ve made some really good friends and done a lot of good, I think.”

“Buffy’s down with the bravery. She saved both our lives more than once,” Xander said. “Our hometown was on a hellmouth.”

“So you weren’t joking about the mouth of hell?” Hemione asked in surprise.

“Nope,” Buffy said. “I take martial arts, so I know how to kick butt.”

“Oh,” Hermione said, eyeing the small girl. “You’re so tiny, though.”

“Hey! No making with the short jokes!” she complained.

“I’m sorry,” Hermione said quickly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings. I get made fun of all the time by Slytherins for being a mudblood. That’s when your parents aren’t magical.”

Buffy glared. “Well, my mom’s not, and if anyone tries to make fun of me, I’ll make them regret it!” she said.

“Not to mention, our parents aren’t either,” Willow said.

“Speak for yourself,” Cordelia said with a superior grin. “I’m one of those pure witches!”

“Yes, as a Black, you’ll most likely be in Professor Snape’s house as most purebloods go there except for the Weasleys. They’re all Gryffindor,” she explained. “The other purebloods hate them for it.”

“But Snape isn’t a pureblood as only one of his parents were magical,” Harry added.

“It’s no biggie to me either way. Pureblood—almost pureblood, halfblood—mudblood—it’s totally insaneo. Bloodline superiority is kind of creepy,” Cordy said. “That’s what the Nazis did in World War Two.”

“I’m Jewish, and my grandmother was in a concentration camp,” Willow said. “It’s not cool to hate people because of bloodlines. That way leads to badness.”

If Ron had been there, he would’ve been confused at the Nazi reference, but Hermione and Harry were raised in a muggle school.

“A person is superior because of how much money they have, how talented or accomplished they are, or how attractive,” Cordelia added with a smug grin.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Sure, Cordy. I feel _so_ inferior to all your superiority. Too bad your superiority didn’t help you save your own life the half a dozen times I saved it with my inferior self,” she said sarcastically.

“That’s just because you’re a freak who attracts badness!” Cordelia said with a glare. “I hope the magic in the school can keep out all the badness you’re going to attract!”

Buffy glared back. “How about you shut your pie hole?” she said, taking a threatening step toward her cousin.

“Girls, let’s not fight,” Xander said with a grin. “Unless you want to do it in a big bowl of jello!”

Both girls turned at him as one. “Gross!” Buffy exclaimed.

“You’re so lame!” Cordelia said.

Xander snickered, his goal accomplished.

“The fun train has arrived!” a voice called out.

The Scoobies looked up and saw three redheads. “Now I see why they asked if you were a Weasley,” Xander said, grinning. Two of the three were identical, and the other was younger and shorter.

“You must be the Weasleys,” Buffy said. “Hello.”

“Why, hello, gorgeous!” one of the twins said.

“Hi, Hermione,” Ron said with a grin. “Good to see you.”

“You, too,” Hermione said. “This is Xander, Willow, Cordelia and Buffy.” She pointed to each as she said their names. “Guys, this is Ron Weasley, and his twin brothers Fred and George.”

“Who is who?” Willow asked.

“I’m George,” one said.

“No, _I’m_ George,” the other said.

“Then who’s Fred?” the other said.

“I can tell you guys are going to be incorrigible,” Buffy said with a grin.

“That’s true,” George said.

“He’s the incorrigible one,” Fred said. “I’m totally corrigible!”

The Scoobies all laughed, amused by the twins.

“I’m Fred,” Fred said, holding out his hand to Cordelia. “You are a vision—a vision of perfection and beauty.”

His twin brother pushed him aside and held out his hand. “I’m George, the smarter, cuter brother.”

“You look exactly the same,” Cordelia said, looking between the two.

“No, they don’t,” Willow said. “That one has a slightly thinner face.”

“George is such a fatty,” Fred said with a grin.

“You’re totally right,” Cordelia said, catching the very slight difference.

“I think I’m in love,” George said, clutching his chest. “She can tell us apart!”

“But I saw it first,” Willow complained.

“You look like one of us,” Fred said. “That would be like kissing a sister or cousin.”

“Cordelia is Professor Snape’s niece,” Hermione told them with a grin.

Both boys looked crestfallen for a moment. Then Fred gave her a bright smile and said, “He is my _favorite_ professor. We use potions to make our pranks.”

“He’s the best,” George agreed. “Plus, we have Percy, so you can’t help who your family is.”

In spite of herself, Cordelia couldn’t help but be charmed by the twins. They were funny—in an over-the-top kind of way. “You’re right. I can’t help being related to Buffy.”

The twins looked toward Buffy in surprise. “You don’t look Snapelike at all,” George said.

“You would look retched in black,” Fred agreed.

“I have a really cute black dress,” Buffy protested.

“She’s Professor Snape’s daughter,” Hermione told them.

The three boys gaped. “You can’t possibly be related to that lying git!” Ron said.

Buffy’s eyes were stormy. “Hey! Watch what you say about my father!” she said with a glare.

“I recognize that glare,” Fred said.

“Yes, it does remind me of someone,” George agreed.

“But she’s so pretty,” Fred observed.

“And short,” George said.

“I am not short!” Buffy protested. “My father is just tall! I could still grow.”

“Well, normally girls reach their maturity at sixteen, Buff,” Willow said. “You’re sixteen.”

“Are all of you sixteen?” Hermione asked.

They nodded. “So that will make you sixth years,” Ron said, disappointed.

“We’re sixths, too,” George said happily.

“I will make sure you’re in _all_ of our classes,” Fred said, giving Cordelia a wink. 

“Most definitely,” George agreed.

Cordelia giggled, flattered and amused.

“Where’s your other brother?” Buffy asked. “Father said the smartest one of you just graduated.”

“Percy? That humorless git? You don’t want to learn from him,” Fred said.

“You’ll learn how to be a stick in the mud,” Ron said.

“He’s a great student,” Hermione pointed out. “I’m sure he could teach you all the fifth-year stuff and get you caught up.”

“He has a job, so he probably will come on weekends,” Ron said.

Harry came back and saw the Weasley. “Great to see you guys!” he said, greeting them.

“It’s little Harry. They must be desperate for help,” George said.

“Hey, Harry can teach them how to get detention from Snape,” Fred said with a grin.

“He’s good at quidditch,” George added.

“What’s quidditch?” Xander asked.

“Only the best and greatest sport ever!” Ron said.

“I thought that was football,” Xander said.

“No, it’s baseball,” Willow said.

George looked heartbroken. “These poor Americans are so lost,” he said.

“And confused,” Fred added.

“We will show them the way!” George said with a grin.

“Quidditch is so fun,” Ron added.

“It really is,” Harry said.

“So what is it?” Buffy asked.

“It’s a game played on flying broomsticks,” Hermione explained, impatient with them. 

“You have flying broomsticks?” Xander asked, his eyes wide. “I saw someone flying around when we were shopping, but I thought it was just one of many freaky-odd things in Diagon Alley.”

“We totally do!” Fred said.

“Shall we teach you our ways?” George asked.

“We can learn how to ride broomsticks?” Willow asked.

“That sounds so lame,” Cordelia added.

Fred clutched his chest dramatically. “Please don’t say such hurtful words, my goddess,” he begged.

“She doesn’t know any better,” George added. “We can’t hold it against her.”

“Did you bring your broom?” Ron asked Harry. 

He nodded. “I did,” he said.

“Me, too,” Ron said with a grin. “Let’s go outside. We’ll show you what it is.”

Harry hoped the new Americans would like their favorite sport. It was exciting to have new students who would need to learn things from them even if the weird relation to Snape was part of the package. He knew that Sirius would be very happy to know he had a niece. If Snape was telling the truth, Harry might finally be able to be with a family that actually cared about him again.

As he went to his room to grab his broom, his heart filled with joy at the thought.

_*****Chapter End*****_


	11. Summer School for Scoobies

_*****A Few Days Later*****_

Severus went out to check on the children as they were late to his potions class. Predictably, they were flying around on broomsticks. He should’ve known those Weasley boys and Potter would teach them quidditch. It was inevitable, but he never dreamed that _all_ four of them would love it. His niece Cordelia was properly disdainful of the idea until the twins had begged and his daughter had called her chicken. Proving she was every bit as good as Buffy Anne had propelled her onto the broom. Turns out, she was a natural beater while his daughter, of course, excelled as a seeker. Her natural slayer abilities made her exceptional at it.

He went outside to wrangle his wayward students and watched Harry Potter fall from his broom at a tremendous height. Quickly, he pulled out his wand to keep the idiot boy from falling to his death when his daughter moved faster than he could get a spell off, grabbing Harry. They hit the ground a bit hard, however, and Severus moved to see if Buffy Anne was okay.

“Buffy Anne? Are you all right?” he asked anxiously as she slowly sat up.

“I’m fine. Just got the air knocked out of me,” she said. “How’s Harry?”

“Same,” he said with a moan. “Gee, that was close.”

“You think? What happened?” Buffy asked.

His friends now made it to his side and were asking the same question as they peered down at the pair in dismay. Willow and Xander arrived to check out the pair. The twins and Cordelia moved at a slower pace behind the anxious friends. The twins knew Harry would be okay—he always was. Cordy felt the same way about Buffy, so they didn’t run toward the grounded pair.

Harry put his hand on his forehead, touching his scar. “It’s my scar. It gave me a stabbing pain,” he said. “It startled me as much as it hurt me.”

“And you thought letting go of the broom was a good idea?” Severus asked dryly.

“Father,” Buffy said with a glare. She turned back to Harry. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Yea,” Harry agreed.

“Why would the scar hurt you?” Cordelia asked as she heard Harry’s remark.

“I don’t know,” Harry mumbled. “Sometimes, it just does.”

“Yea, when You-Know-Who is about to make trouble,” Ron said grimly.

Harry gave him a dark look, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

“Do you need to see Madam Pomprey?” Severus asked Buffy and then glanced at Harry.

“No, I’m fine,” Buffy said, getting to her feet. She reached down and helped Harry up.

“Me, too. I’m okay,” he said. He gave Buffy a grateful look. “Thanks to Buffy.”

“That was some incredible flying,” Ron said, giving her an admiring look. “You have to totally try out for quidditch when classes start.”

Buffy shrugged, knowing her mom and Giles would say it’s cheating. “You don’t have to be on a team to love a sport,” she said.

“Yea, but—” Ron protested and was cut off by Severus.

“Buffy Anne has other things to worry about than a game,” he said.

“I think you should go see Giles,” Buffy said to Harry. “He can figure out what is going on with your scar.”

“I am sure that Dumbledore can figure it out,” Hermione said loyally.

“How long has this scar been bothering you, Harry?” Buffy asked him.

“A few years now. Off and on,” he replied.

“Does Dumbledore know about it?” she asked.

Harry nodded. “Yes,” he said. 

“And he’s done nothing about it?” Buffy said, giving Hermione a pointed look.

“Not really,” Harry said. “Usually, it only hurts when I’m relaxed or sleeping.”

“Do you know what causes it?” Buffy asked.

“I think it’s whenever Voldemort is close or planning something particularly evil,” Harry said. “Normally, it proceeds something nefarious happening.”

Severus wondered if the Dark Lord knew what was going on at Hogwarts—about his new family connections and frowned.

“Well, Giles can figure it out,” Buffy said confidently.

“That’s what he does,” Willow agreed. “He figures out things.”

“‘Cause he’s the one with the books,” Xander agreed.

“He loves consulting his books,” Buffy said with a grin. 

“What’s that scar about anyway?” Cordelia asked. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry looked at her in shock.

“You don’t know?” Ron asked.

“Why would I know? I just met the guy a few days ago,” she said impatiently.

“They were not raised in our world,” Severus reminded them.

“And it’s not polite to ask people about scars or birthmarks on the face,” Willow added.

“This is a scar from when I survived the killing curse from Voldemort,” Harry explained. “The night he killed my parents.”

Buffy winced. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Yea, that really sucks,” Xander added.

“Some concealer would cover that right up,” Cordelia added.

When everyone but the Scoobies gave her a strange look, she added, “You know, make-up?”

Hermione nodded. “Oh, well, we don’t use muggle make-up,” she said. “We use spells to change our appearance or apply the look of make-up.”

“You mean you can get quality make-up by magic?” Cordelia asked, her eyes wide.

“Like a face as beautiful as yours needs improvement,” Fred said.

“We do have some candy that will grow your hair,” George added.

“And some that changes the color of it,” Fred said with a wink.

“Yea, hair that never stops growing or hair that turns green,” Ron said with a snort.

“Yes, the candy is quite brilliant,” George said with a proud grin.

“I think I’ll pass,” Cordelia said to the twins. Using magic to get ready for class was totally worth learning. Imagining all the time and money she would save made her eager to learn more spells.

“Come on, Harry,” Buffy said. “I’ll take you to see Giles.”

“How about you do that later and instead come to potions in my classroom as you’re supposed to?” her father said firmly.

She flashed him a guilty look. “I’m sorry, Father. We lost track of time,” she said. “Quidditch is so fun.”

“Seriously,” Xander said. “Who would’ve thought I’d actually enjoy a sport?”

“All the dodging during dodgeball in P. E. has made you really good at goalie,” Cordelia said with a smirk.

“Wait till you hear about the Quidditch World Cup,” Ron said excitedly. “It’s going to be between Ireland and Bulgaria.”

“Mom said she might—” Fred began.

“Get us tickets!” George finished.

“Really?” Harry asked, his eyes wide.

“That’s like the Super Bowl for quidditch, right?” Xander asked.

Ron frowned. “I don’t understand what’s super about a bowl?” he asked in confusion.

“That’s the American football championship,” Willow explained.

“I thought that was the World Cup?” Ron wondered.

“No, that’s soccer,” Xander said.

“Stop wasting time,” Severus said with a glare. “Get to class.”

“I’ll come get you later, Harry,” Buffy said. “Maybe during lunch, we can talk to Giles.”

Harry and company watched Professor Snape lead them away. “I just don’t understand how that girl is related to the greasy git,” Ron said in bemusement.

“Not so greasy these days,” Hermione pointed out. “Buffy told me she got him to cut his hair by promising to call him Father.”

“Sneaky,” George said with a grin.

“We approve,” Fred said.

“Buffy told me that he actually likes not having so much hair,” Hermione said.

“Did she tell you how he and her mother met?” Harry wondered.

“She said her mom was in the area for a spring break, studying art. They had a short fling,” Hermione added.

The boys all shuddered. “A fling with Professor Snape,” George said in confusion.

“Maybe she is blind,” Fred suggested. “Did she say her mom was blind?”

“No, she didn’t,” Hermione said. “And be careful what you say around Buffy.”

“Yea,” Harry agreed. “She doesn’t like to hear him criticized. I learned that the first day.”

“Cordelia is also related to him. Don’t forget,” Ron said.

“We choose to ignore that one imperfection,” Fred said.

“Just as we choose to ignore Percy,” George said.

“You know he’ll be here soon,” Hermione reminded them. “You better be nice.”

“Mother will kill us if we embarrass her,” Ron added.

“It’s the red hair,” George said.

“Brings out the temper,” Fred said with a wink.

“They’re pretty cool, right?” Ron asked. “I mean Xander is so funny, and not nearly as annoying as those two.” He pointed to his brothers.

“Yes, he’s really nice,” Hermione agreed, blushing.

Fred caught it, though, and grinned. “Does Hermione have a little crush?”

“But what about Ron? Are you tossing him over for that American poser?” George added dramatically.

“You two shut it!” Ron said angrily.

“I said he was nice. I didn’t say I was crushing on him,” Hermione said with a glare.

“It’s what you didn’t say that says so much,” Fred said with wink.

George nodded. “So true, brother. So true,” he said, slapping his brother lightly on the shoulder.

“What house do you think they’ll be sorted in?” Harry asked, changing the subject.

“Well, they’re super fun, so probably our house or Hufflepuff,” Ron said confidently.

“I don’t know,” Hermione said. “Cordelia is a Black. Sirius was the only Black not to ever be sorted into Slytherin.”

“She is a bit snarky like her uncle,” Ron pointed out.

“Take it back!” George said, offended.

“She is just clever with the wit!” Fred defended. “It doesn’t make her a snake!”

“He’s too witless to recognize the difference,” George said with a snort.

“No, he’s just pointing out the obvious,” Hermione said. “Even Buffy could end up in her father’s house.”

“Well, they’re American,” Harry pointed out. “Does it really matter? They’re not going to suddenly turn into Malfoy.”

“True,” Hermione said.

“Willow is super smart. She could go Ravenclaw,” Harry added.

“Yea,” Ron admitted. “Well, Luna’s Ravenclaw, and she’s not too bad—just batty.”

“You know the hat does let you have a say,” Harry said carefully, recalling his near Slytherin placement.

“Maybe, they’ll want to be in our house,” Ron said.

“I don’t understand who exactly Professor Giles is to them,” Hermione said. “Buffy calls him Giles and says he was their librarian. He’s British, but he’s going to be teaching here some ancient languages and assisting with Muggle Studies.”

Ron’s eyes brightened. “A real muggle teaching a muggle studies class? Dad would be so excited,” he said. “I might have to take the class.”

“Yea,” Fred agreed.

“But it still doesn’t explain why Buffy trusts the guy so much,” Hermione said.

“You should ask her,” Harry suggested.

“It’s kind of awkward because I don’t want to upset her. I don’t know her that well, and they are Americans,” Hermione said.

“Maybe that’s something that American do,” George said.

“Bring their librarians to another school in another country?” Fred suggested.

“Is that how they won their independence?” George asked in horror. 

“Through books?” Fred asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, ignoring their comments.

“He is British, so she might’ve thought he’d be a help,” Harry pointed out.

“Her father is British, so why would she need another guy old enough to be her dad?” Hermione countered.

“Maybe he’s snogging her ma?” George wondered.

“But all of them seem to look to Professor Giles,” Hermione said. “Willow especially.”

“Well, she’s like you, right?” Ron asked. “She loves the books, and he is the book man.”

“I say we stop worrying about this,” Harry said. “We have all summer to get to know them and uncover the why and how.”

Harry, for one, was very much interested in discovery how the new professor could help him.

***** _An Hour Later*****_

Severus worked hard not to yell. Willow and Buffy, of course, were perfectly proficient at potions. Willow especially showed an aptitude for it, but Xander and Cordelia couldn’t seem to get anything right. Mostly because the two of them bickered about everything. 

“I have been teaching this class for years, and I have never seen two people bicker as much as the two of you,” Severus said, glaring. “And I teach Potter and Malfoy. You will switch partners. Willow, see if you can teach Alexander how to complete a potion that all second years can manage. Buffy, you are with Cordelia.”

Once Alexander didn’t have his niece or his daughter to distract him, he did much better. Severus had to admonish Willow to not do it for him, however. It was good they weren’t entirely hopeless.

“Good. Rupert is helping you with Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow,” Severus said. “He has looked through the material you need to know and says the early years will be no problem. In a week, we will test you out of years one to three in that class, so make time to review the testing material. By end of summer, I expect you to have no trouble being ready for year six—at least in that subject.”

“Cool,” Buffy said.

“All that fleeing for our lives on the hellmouth was actually good for something!” Xander said with a happy grin.

“What about potions?” Willow asked. 

“I expect you will have no trouble testing into sixth year by summer’s end. Percy is particularly good at potions, and he will help keep you up to speed also. Although it pains me to admit it, so are the twins,” Severus said. He looked at the others. “The rest of you need to study your potions book. Next to transfiguration, it is the most difficult class you can take. One tiny mistake will mess up the potion utterly.”

“We are doing transfiguration next, right?” Xander asked. It was the one class he had shown any aptitude for. The day before yesterday, he was the first one to transfigure his cup correctly.

“Yes. It is time for lunch, however. Then you will meet with the professor,” he said.

“Lunch? I’m so there,” Xander said, getting up to run out. He was never going to take the meal times at this place for granted. It was like heaven for the tummy, and Xander loved every meal.

“Xander, we have to clean up first,” Willow reminded him.

Sighing, he grabbed his cauldron. “I still can’t believe we use actual cauldrons. Talk about stereotypes,” he muttered.

Willow giggled, agreeing. “Let’s not forget the flying broomsticks,” she added.

“If one of the professors was an old crone with a wart, I’d be really freaked,” Xander said, grinning.

“You’d probably ask her for a date,” Cordelia said.

“Don’t start,” Buffy told them. “I want to get to lunch and talk to Giles.”

Severus had his own plans for lunch as Albus had arranged a meeting at the Leaking Cauldron with Sirius. It was time to tell him about Cordelia, and he was dreading the entire encounter.

***** _A Bit Later*****_

During lunch, her father disappeared, but she told Giles all about Harry’s scar. Harry was sitting on her other side as she had dragged him to sit with Giles, leaving everyone else at another table.

“Hmm,” Giles said thoughtfully. “I will have to consult my books.”

Buffy grinned, giving Harry a smirk. “Did I call it or what? He would have to consult his books,” she said.

Harry chuckled. “Do you think you could figure something out about what’s going on?” he asked Giles.

“Of course,” Giles said. “It’s possible that the magical essence of Voldemort is trapped somehow inside your scar. A cleansing of some kind is probably in order. I will talk to the coven I know in Sussex. There’s another one in Devon. Between the two, we’ll find out what’s happening.”

“I would appreciate it,” Harry said. “It didn’t used to bother me at all until I came here,” he said.

“I will do my best,” Giles assured him.

***** _Leaky Cauldron*****_

Severus walked into the pub, looking for a cloaked figure in the corner. There he was, so Severus walked toward him, sitting across from him.

“Black,” he said in a low voice.

“Snivellus,” Sirius said, giving him a cold look.

Severus glared. “Still the belittling bully, I see,” he said. “If only Harry knew you the way I do.”

Now it was Sirius’ turn to glare. “How dare you mention my godchild! It’s because of _you_ that I can’t be with him, and he’s stuck with those horrible muggles,” Sirius said.

“I have not come here to bicker about Harry,” Severus said. “I have some very important news. It concerns your brother Regulus.”

Sirius frowned in confusion. What could Snape possibly have to tell him about his brother that died years ago?

_*****To Be Continued*****_

_More is coming. This chapter wasn’t too exciting, but I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway._


	12. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t at all proclaim to be an expert on Sirius, but I tried my best to write him. I hope you won’t be disappointed!

_*****Where We Left Off*****_

“My brother has been dead for years,” Sirius said coldly. He didn’t like to talk about his brother. Regulus went from hero worshipping Sirius to looking at him in disappointment and disdain. When Sirius tried to tell him how wrong Voldemort and the pure blood stuff was, Regulus had looked almost frightened of him. He had tried to warn Regulus about the Death Eaters, but they still managed to get the poor chap killed anyway. More than once while he was imprisoned, he had thought of his brother, feeling guilty for not doing enough to help him. Had he really tried all that much? Sirius knew that he had enjoyed playing the rebel a bit too much, making his own contempt for the Black family traditions well known. Had he really tried to connect with Regulus? Or had he simply dismissed him as not being worth his time?

“I know,” Severus snarled. “I want to talk about what he did before he died.”

“Why? We both know he was probably the shittiest Death Eater ever,” Sirius said. “That’s why your lord probably killed him.”

Severus was grim as he said, “He got my sister pregnant, and we have a niece who is now sixteen and at Hogwarts learning magic at this very moment.”

“What?” Sirius said, his voice growing loud. Eyes turned toward him, and he lowered his voice. “What the *** kind of game are you playing at?”

“Do you think I would play a game that would put _your_ brother with my sister?” Severus said coldly. “Not only is my imagination not that good, I thought my sister was murdered by muggles. It’s part of the reason I joined up with Voldemort to begin with. Now, though, I have both magical tests and DNA tests to prove that the American teenager I met in California is related to both of us.”

Sirius was silent for a long moment as he considered what Severus was telling him. He knew the man hated him too much to make up a family connection. Nor would Dumbledore allow him to met Severus if the pretense was false. “Why were you in America?” he asked.

“My daughter that I had magically protected had died long enough for the wards to come undone,” Severus shared. “She lives on a hellmouth, and I met our niece, Cordelia, when she saved me from three vampires.”

“Her name is Cordelia?” Sirius asked. “Wait, you have a daughter? A daughter that lives on a hellmouth? Vampires?” It was too much for Sirius as the questions stacked up.

“Buffy Anne just happened to be a classmate of our niece,” Severus said. “I do not think it was a coincidence that Cordelia ended up at the hellmouth or that my daughter would meet her. Buffy Anne’s two best friends are also witches. The four of them are getting tutored by Potter, Granger, and the Weasleys this summer to get them ready for the next school term.”

“Harry has met my niece? Does he know who she is?” Sirius asked.

“Yes,” Severus said. “As you could guess, he was quite glad to meet her. Buffy Anne and I took him from his aunt’s. My daughter has taken a liking to your godson as she is more like her mother than I.”

“Thank Merlin,” Sirius muttered.

Severus gave him a cold look but ignored his comment. “I need to know what happened, Sirius. My sister disappeared for months and then we found her dead. Not much longer after that, your brother was killed,” Severus said.

“My brother would never kill a woman,” Sirius said with a glare.

“I wasn’t trying to say he did. I did know the man, after all,” Severus said sourly. “The fact that Cordelia has my sister’s name makes it more likely that Regulus cared about my sister. If she died in childbirth, he probably gave her the name.”

Sirius nodded. That did make sense. 

“I was thinking that Regulus’ portrait might have some answers,” Severus said. “Or a clue will be in your house.”

“Thanks to that rat Peter and _you_ , I can’t go back to my house,” Sirius said sourly.

“About that,” Severus said. “I have an appointment tomorrow to speak to Fudge about your innocence. We’ve already verified that Fudge is not a Death Eater, but he simply refuses to entertain the idea that the Dark Lord’s presence is real. He’s an imbecile but not a colluder.”

“Yeah, we both know who the colluder is, don’t we?” Sirius said pointedly.

Severus felt the old familiar rage well up inside him. This was the man that had pushed him so readily to the dark, and now he dared sit in judgement of him? “Fine. I’ll just wait for you to die, and then go find the answers in your house myself,” Severus said, standing up.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Sirius said, putting his hand out to stop him. “This is just a lot to take at once.”

Severus sat down slowly. “It is,” he said. He was silent.

“I can’t believe this. I have a blood relative that is alive and not horrible,” Sirius said. “She’s not, right? Nothing like my mother?”

“Cordelia is quite wonderful,” Severus said. “She’s beautiful and strong.”

“She really faced down vampires to save you?” Sirius asked, fascinated.

Severus nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t kill all three of them before I was rushed, losing my wand,” he said. “I thought I was dead when she came up with a child’s toy—a large water gun filled with holy water.”

Sirius grinned. “That’s a total Gryffindor move. I hope you know that,” he said smugly.

“It took ingenuity to use a child’s toy in such a fashion,” Severus countered. “She’s definitely Slytherin.”

“But she wasn’t raised with the purebred bullshit, so she could be sorted the way I was,” Sirius argued.

Severus shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. She’s got a haughtiness about her that is definitely Slytherin,” he said. “She was the most popular girl in her school—my daughter’s best friends mostly hate her. Buffy Anne and she aren’t that close. Buffy Anne says she used to be a lot like Cordelia before she became less self-involved.”

“A self-involved person wouldn’t risk their life for someone else,” Sirius pointed out.

“Yes, I know. My daughter is constantly risking her life for others, so I don’t know how sorting is going to go,” Severus admitted. “They spent time on the hellmouth, and they had to fight to survive. It changes a person’s core.”

Sirius nodded. “Your daughter sounds fascinating, and I’m sure Harry already adores her,” he said, finding it strange saying something cordial to Snape.

“She is very special,” Severus said. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen when the Dark Lord finds out about both of them.”

Sirius blanched as he realized the implication. “You haven’t heard from him yet?” he asked.

Severus shook his head. “It’s only a matter of time,” he said. “The quidditch championship is coming up, and I know the kids want to go. I can’t hide the girls because they stand out. Not only are they utterly beautiful, but they have a spark of life that draws the eyes.”

Sirius was so excited to meet his niece, and the dark cloud that he had been living under for so long disappeared at that very moment. He looked at Snape without any of the normal animosity. This man had brought him both good news and hope for his future. Not that he didn’t love his godson, but a niece—she would have children. The three of them would be a family: he, Harry, and Cordelia. It didn’t even matter much that he’d have to share her with Snape.

“You know my parents disowned me,” he reminded Snape. “Cordelia might be able to get into the house herself. If my brother sent her to the hellmouth to cloak her presence, her arrival in Scotland should have been noticed by our house magic.”

Severus nodded. “That may be true, but only you can find the house as it’s cloaked,” he pointed out.

“If the hellmouth was cloaking Cordelia, why would you know about your daughter?” Sirius wondered.

“I didn’t create a hellmouth specific spell for Buffy Anne. I created a potion that erased her magical signature where ever she was,” he explained. “I do not know how Cordelia was hidden by our families’ tapestries. She should have shown up in one of them at the very least. Since she didn’t, I can only suspect the hellmouth had something to do with it, or your brother did a spell of some kind to cloak her as I did Buffy Anne. I do not know as we don’t know anything yet about what happened to my sister or how your brother ended up Cordelia’s father.”

“Reggie kept a journal, you know,” Sirius shared. “If his portrait is mum, we still might find answers in that.”

“Let’s hope so,” Severus said. Not knowing what happened to his sister was maddening.

Sirius nodded. “Can you let me meet her?” he asked. He didn’t want to wait.

“As soon as Albus thinks it’s time,” he said. “Give me a few days. Maybe your other form could come to Hogwarts? There are no children about but those loyal to your grandson.”

“That would be fine,” Sirius agreed.

Seeing Harry and Cordelia would be so wonderful, and Sirius would be very grateful if Snape actually made it happen. He couldn’t wait to tell Remus.

***** _The Next Day*****_

Buffy spoke to her father after breakfast as he was on his way to Dumbledore’s office. 

“Are you going to the Ministry today to talk to the candy man?” she asked.

Severus looked confused. “Candy man?” he asked.

“Your head guy who has a candy name,” Buffy said with a grin.

“Do you mean Fudge?” Severus asked, giving her a look of fond exasperation.

“Oh, chocolate, not candy! I got it,” she said.

“Yes, I’m going to see him with the headmaster,” Severus said.

“You’re not going to get into any trouble for lying about Harry’s godfather?” Buffy asked worriedly.

“I don’t think so,” Severus said.

“You’re going to get truth serum to back up what you say?” Buffy asked. “Cordelia was talking last night with Harry, and she’s really wanting to meet him.”

“She will soon,” Severus said. “Once I take the veritaserum, we will demand either a trial or a dismissal. Albus will be using his full weight and influence to demand something be done. We will be using the knowledge of Cordelia as a bargaining chip. She is a daughter of a pureblood and one whose family is one of the oldest in our world. Fudge will know that she will need both sides of her family. If there’s a chance that Sirius is innocent, they will have to act.”

“If they try to lock you up, I will go slayer on their asses and bust you out,” Buffy informed him, a stubborn tilt to her chin.

Severus gave her a fond smile. “That will not be necessary,” he said. “I am quite capable of taking care of myself.”

“You better,” Buffy said, crossing her arms and giving him a determined look.

Severus nodded and walked to the stairwell. He started to go up then and paused. Then he turned back to say to her, “Don’t worry. I will be fine.”

She gave him a grateful smile, and then went back to join her friends.

“Where did Uncle Severus go?” Cordelia asked when she joined them.

“He had to go to talk to the Fudge guy with Dumbledore,” Buffy said.

Harry was going over DADA lessons with them. The early year stuff was way easy. Monday they were going to take their tests, so Harry was basically just reviewing it. It seemed that living on a hellmouth was actually good for something after all. He stopped talking to Xander and heard her words. Excited, he stood up.

“Is he going to tell the truth about Sirius?” Harry asked, hopeful.

Buffy nodded. “Yea,” she said. “We can’t have Cordy’s uncle wanted for murder. She’d never get over the shame.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “As if. I’d not be ashamed. Embarrassed maybe, but you can’t help who you’re related to,” she said, giving Buffy a pointed glance. 

“Tell me about it. I have a spoiled princess as a cousin now,” Buffy said with a snicker.

“Your family genes are amazing,” George said, eying both girls with appreciation.

“It’s just hard to believe that Snape shares them,” Fred said.

Both girls turned to the twins with almost identical glares. Fred’s eyes got big while George grinned.

“That’s freaky!” George said. “I can actually see a resemblance.”

“The glare does seem a wee bit familiar, doesn’t it?” Fred observed.

Harry laughed. “You guys better watch it. They don’t like anyone insulting Snape,” he said.

“Would you like it if someone insulted your father?” Buffy said pointedly. She turned to the twins. “Or yours?”

“Harry’s dad’s dead,” Ron said. “And our dad is a big goof, but there’s nothing really to insult. He’s like the best dad ever.”

“Yea, well, my father is just fine as a father,” Buffy said loyally. “He cares about me, and he’s teaching me stuff like a father’s supposed to.”

“You know he’s a Death Eater, right?” Ron said.

Buffy marched up to Ron, glaring up at him. “Say that again and see what happens!” she threatened, clenching her fists.

George and Fred grinned. “She’s so fierce!” Fred said.

“And protective,” George said.

“Buffy, Ron’s just saying what everyone will be thinking,” Hermione said. 

Buffy glared at Hermione now, making her flinch. “I don’t care what anyone says. He might have taken the mark when he was young and stupid, but that doesn’t mean anything,” she said. She looked at Harry. “He told me that he loved your mom. Did you know that? Her death is the reason he turned against the so-called Dark Lord to begin with!” She wasn’t talking about her dad being a spy, so she figured she could share a little. They were judging her father without cause, and she wasn’t going to stand for it!

Harry looked stunned, and the rest equally surprised. “What?” he said.

“Buffy,” Willow cautioned. “Maybe you shouldn’t share personal information about your father. I don’t think he’d like that.”

Buffy blanched, knowing Willow was probably right. “Tell anyone anything I just said, you’ll regret it,” she threatened. Then she stomped away.

Cordelia had stayed silent during the exchange, but after Buffy left, she walked up to Ron. “I don’t care if Buffy is the biggest diva bitch or that Snape can be a real jerk,” she said. “They’re my blood, and I’ve never had a single blood relative my entire life since I’m adopted. That means they’re my family, and the only one that’s allowed to insult them is me. Do you understand that?” Ron nodded. She glared at the rest of the group. “Do you _all_ understand?”

They all nodded, and Cordy flounced away, leaving behind the twins, who fell instantly in love.

“That woman is going to have my babies one day!” George declared with a dreamy sigh.

“How she going to do that when she’ll already be pregnant with mine?” Fred said with a wink.

“You know you both can’t have her,” Ron said to them.

“What about Buffy?” Harry asked them. “I thought you liked her, too?”

George looked at Fred, who nodded. Then he turned back to George. “We do, but she is closely related to Snape. He’s good with potions, but the chance of our babies having that nose is much greater,” Fred said with a grimace.

“And Cordelia—she’s a goddess,” George said with a dreamy sigh.

“I can’t believe Sirius is going to be free,” Harry said, excited. He honestly wasn’t caring much who Buffy was related to, but he knew that it was her influence that was making Snape do the right thing. For that, he would be her friend and supporter for life.

“I can’t believe that Snape’s going to do the right thing,” Ron said.

“It’s about time,” Hermione remarked.

Harry nodded. It most definitely was.

He grinned, very happy at the changes his new American friends were bringing. It didn’t matter what Snape did because Harry knew that he wouldn’t be doing anything at all if it wasn’t for his daughter.

Buffy was the one making him change, and Harry was really glad she was going to be at Hogwarts.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_Comments? Kudos? Thanks!_


	13. Meeting the Uncle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do realize I’m probably oversimplifying how easy things go with Sirius, but he’s not the point of the story. I didn’t want to drag it out any longer.

_*****Several Hours Later******_

Buffy anxiously waited for father to make it back to Hogwarts. When he finally did arrive right after dinner was over, she practically pounced on him.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Tell me, so I can go hurt them!” she said, angry at the thought of anyone hurting her father.

Severus smiled at his tigress of a daughter. “I’m fine, daughter,” he assured her. Endearments felt too foreign too him even though he felt an incredible love for her.

“So what happened?” she asked.

“My recitation under veritaserum was recorded and witnessed. Albus and I told them of your and Cordelia’s existence, which forces them to deal with Sirius’ charges. As I can testify that Peter is the guilty one, they are going to drop to drop the charges on Sirius, allowing the Black family fortunes to be open to Cordelia and him. As Regulus’ heir, Cordelia will inherit a substantial amount, and if Sirius has no children of his own, she will inherit all of the Black fortune,” Severus explained.

“What about Harry? Isn’t he an heir to Sirius?” she asked.

“Harry’s got his own family fortune that is quite substantial,” Severus said. “Of course, his muggle family had no access to it.”

Buffy glared. “I don’t get you people. You let Harry be raised by non-magical people without even giving them any financial support? It never occurred to anyone that if they got paid, they might’ve treated Harry better?” she asked.

Severus knew she had a point, but he wasn’t going to argue. “Take that up with Dumbledore,” he said. Then he realized that would not be a good idea as she would do exactly that. “On second thought, don’t. It’s in the past, and we can’t change what’s happened. Harry has complete access now to his funds, and he can purchase whatever he wants.”

“Can I tell Harry the good news?” she asked.

Severus nodded. “Yes, that’s fine,” he said. “I will talk to Cordelia. I hope to see you later. Come by before you retire?”

“Sure,” she said as she gave him a hug. “I’m really glad you’re okay. If anyone hurts you, I’m going to hurt them,” she said.

Severus watched her walk away, worried. There was no way that he was going to be able to keep her from the Dark Lord. Nor was there any chance Buffy could pretend to be a supporter of his.

Buffy ran to find Harry to tell him the good news. He was in the Gryffindor common room working with Xander on his lessons.

“Harry! I got good news. Father just made it home and says that they are dropping the charges against your godfather. Where’s Cordelia?” she asked. “Father wants to talk to her.”

“The twins were taking her for a walk,” Harry said. “I can’t believe he really did it.”

“Harry, I know you’ve got your own history with my father, but do you think we can start over?” Buffy asked. “I mean, you and he start over? Cordy’s my cousin, and your godfather is her uncle. My father and Sirius don’t get along. It’d help if you and Father could get along.”

“I’ll do my best, Buffy,” Harry said. “Honestly, this is such a great thing that I don’t want to hold any grudges.”

Buffy hugged the younger boy, happy for him. Then he left to tell his friends the good news.

Buffy went and sought out Giles, who was in his rooms. 

“Hey, Giles. Father is back, and he said that everything went well,” she shared.

“That is good,” Giles said. “Concerning Harry—I’ve talked to the coven. We can take Harry and go to Devon. We can stop at London and hit a few tourist spots, too. Cordelia can bring her new camera.”

“That’s great!” Buffy said excitedly. “Mom asked me last night when I talked to her if we’d seen anything yet. When are we going?”

“I think we can go tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Awesome. I’ll spread the word,” Buffy said.

“Would you like to do some training now?” Giles asked.

“Yes! I’m starting to feel closed in. We totally need to check out the Forbidden Forest,” Buffy said.

“We can venture out tonight as I have already cleared it with the headmaster,” Giles said.

“Awesome!” she said. “I’m going to run and change, and then we can work out a bit before going out on patrol.”

So far, she’d managed to keep her slayerness away from her new friends. When she made it to her room, no one was there, so she was able to change into her workout clothes.

Unfortunately, she did run into Hermione on the way. “Good evening, Buffy,” she said, looking at her clothes in confusion. 

“Hey. I’m doing my martial arts training with Giles,” Buffy said quickly. Then she waved and skipped away.

Hermione joined her friends in the Gryffindor common room. The twins were trying to talk Cordelia into trying a piece of their candy.

“I thought you liked this girl? Why would you ask her to try that?” Ron asked.

“This isn’t a bad piece of candy,” Fred said.

“We spelled it to give the eater good dreams,” George said. 

“If she takes it ten minutes before she sleeps, it’s supposed to do that,” Fred said.

“But no one will try it,” George said.

“How about you try it?” Harry suggested.

“We have!” Fred said.

“We know it works, but no one trusts that we can make thinks that aren’t funny!” George complained.

“That’s because we all know you!” Ron said.

“Okay, I’ll try it,” Cordelia said. “But if something weird grows on my body or I get pink hair or anything crazy, I’m going to be causing some pain!”

Fred beamed. “I knew you were the brave one in this group!” he proclaimed, giving her a proud look.

“Totally a Gryf,” George said confidentially.

“You guys put way too much stock in house sorting,” Cordelia said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s very weird,” Willow said. “My friends are going to be my friends no matter whose house they have to live in at night. This whole grouping thing just breeds distrust, prejudice, and small-mindedness.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hermione asked. “Our traditions are ancient and were created by people extremely gifted and brilliant.”

“It doesn’t make them right,” Cordy said.

“What if Cordy is sorted into her father’s and uncle’s house or Buffy? Are you going to start being mean to them and talk bad about them like you do that Malfoy guy?” Willow asked.

“Well, no,” Hermione said, glancing at Ron and Harry for support.

“It’s not our fault that those in the snake house are supporters of you-know-who!” Ron said. 

“And they’re not very nice,” Harry added.

“If I get into Uncle Sev’s house, I won’t let anyone be mean to you,” Cordelia said to their new friends.

“Buffy will for sure not,” Xander said.

“Nor will I be supporting some Hitler wanna be!” Cordy exclaimed.

George grinned and put his arm around her shoulder. “You can count on my love no matter what!” he assured her.

“Why would she want your love when she has mine?” Fred said.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “Okay, you’re piling it on too thick,” she said.

“No accounting for taste,” Xander muttered.

Cordy gave him a death glare but said nothing. 

They were interrupted by Dolby. “Harry Potter and Harry’s friends must come to the Headmaster’s office right away,” he said. Then he popped away.

Curious, they all got up to go to Professor Dumbledore’s office.

Severus and Giles were both there along with Buffy. “What’s up?” Xander asked.

“There you are,” Severus said to Cordelia. “I was looking for you earlier. Did Harry tell you the news about your uncle?”

Cordelia nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Thanks for doing that.”

“Your welcome,” Severus added. He looked at his niece. “I was trying to find you earlier to tell you of what happened with the Ministry.”

“I was outside with the twins,” she said.

“The Ministry has dropped all charges against Sirius Black,” Albus said. “I’ve already sent him word, and I know he will be arriving here at any moment to meet his niece and see Harry.”

“Now that the charges are dropped, you will have access to the Black family fortune,” Severus told her.

“Giles is taking us to London tomorrow, so we can hit your bank and go shoe shopping!” Buffy said excitedly.

Cordelia grinned. “I won’t say no to that. I don’t want to shop at Diagon Alley, though. They had no good clothing stores,” she said.

“No, they don’t sell muggle clothing,” Albus said, his eyes dancing at the thought of Severus being dragged shoe shopping.

Buffy looked at her father. “You’re going to come, right? Giles is going to take Harry to his Devon coven of witches to have them look at Harry’s mark,” she said.

Albus lost his smile. “I do not think involving earth witches in our problems is a good idea,” he said.

“I disagree,” Giles said, sternly. “You’ve had years to do something about it, and you haven’t. Harry almost died falling off that broom when the scar hurt him. Next time, he might.”

Albus conceded the point with a slight nod. No need to share the advantage Harry’s mark could give him. The slayer might be pushed to violence if she thought Albus was endangering Harry even if it was for the greater good.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the fireplace. “Someone is coming,” Severus said.

Harry grinned. “Sirius!” he exclaimed, running to help him to his feet. 

“Harry!” Sirius said, hugging him tightly.

Severus gritted his teeth, and his daughter—attuned to him—reached out and took his hand. Surprised, he looked down at her and saw her smile. “If he’s rude, I’ll kick him for you,” she said. Then she added, “But you better be polite, so I can feel justified.”

Severus rolled his eyes, but his lips held a slight smile. “I will endeavor,” he said.

“Sirius,” Albus began, “I see you did not waste any time.”

“Of course not,” Sirius said with a grin. He turned to Severus. “I can’t thank you enough, Snape, for getting me cleared.”

“I did it for our niece,” Severus said, gesturing to Cordelia. “Cordelia, this is your father’s older brother, Sirius Black.”

Cordelia stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, smiling at him. “You need a bath and a haircut.”

Sirius grinned. “I do. Forgive my appearance,” he said. “I was just so excited to be able to finally come and see you and Harry.” He held out her hand, and she gave it a squeeze.

“This is Buffy, my cousin,” Cordelia said.

“Snape’s daughter?” Sirius said, giving Buffy a critical look. “I see you take after your mother.”

Buffy glared and crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked coldly.

Sirius chuckled. “I take it back. That glare is definitely yours, Sniv,” he said.

Severus gave his daughter a look of warning. “She does favor her very attractive mother,” he acknowledged.

“Except Mrs. Summers isn’t short as a gnome,” Cordelia said with a snicker.

“Well, I can still kick your ass,” Buffy said, giving her a dark look.

“That’s only because—” she began until Xander elbowed her. 

“Cor, careful,” he warned.

Cordelia shut her mouth quickly, causing the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione to look at them curiously.

“Let’s not quarrel,” Giles said, giving both girls a look. He held out his hand. “I am Rupert Giles, a mentor to the children. I worked at their school.”

“He teaches Buffy martial arts,” Hemione added, still thinking it was strange.

“Among other things,” Giles said.

“Rupert is going to be teaching ancient languages and assisting in Muggle Studies,” Severus added.

“I take it that you’re a muggle, then?” Sirius asked.

Rupert nodded. “Yes. I am familiar with witches that are not wand witches,” he said.

“He’s going to take me to some witches in Devon to get my scar looked at,” Harry shared.

“If it’s okay with your godfather,” Giles said. “When I made the plans, I wasn’t sure you’d be cleared. Harry fell off his broom playing that flying game the kids like—”

He was cut off by several teens and Sirius adding, “Quidditch!”

Giles paused, smiling, and then he nodded. “Yes, that one. He fell because he felt a sharp stabbing pain that caused him to let go off the broom,” Giles explained.

Sirius looked alarmed. “You let go of your broom? Harry! You know that’s the first rule of quidditch. You never let go of the broom!” he admonished.

Harry was embarrassed. “I know, but it was so bad and sudden,” he said.

“Luckily, Buffy was there to save him,” Ron added.

“She flies like a goddess,” George said with a grin. “A total Gryf!”

Severus rolled his eyes. “Yes, doing foolish and brave things to help other idiot Gryffindors is something you guys are known for,” he muttered.

“It’s not foolish saving a life,” Willow said, defending her friend.

“It’s what she does,” Cordy said with a shrug. “How long are you going to stay?”

Sirius looked to Albus. “You can stay all summer if you want, Sirius. We can always use another hand in getting the Americans caught up on their lessons. Percy Weasley has agreed to give us a few hours on the weekends,” Albus said. “He arrives tomorrow.”

“Great,” Ron said. “The buzz-kill is coming to ruin our fun.”

Sirius frowned. “You know, Ron, I didn’t appreciate my brother much when he was alive. Then he was killed, and it was too late to reconnect,” he said. “You shouldn’t be so dismissive of one of your brothers. He’s your blood. Being different from your siblings can cause hostility. I was really hostile to everyone in my family.”

“That’s ‘cause they were all dark wizards,” Ron pointed out.

“Maybe,” Sirius said. He looked at Cordelia. “You have some cousins, too. Did they tell you? Bellatrix was Voldemort’s right hand, and she’s evil and insane. Luckily, she didn’t reproduce. Narcissa wasn’t too bad until she married Lucius Malfoy. They have a son you will be going to school with. I’ve never met him.”

“Draco is nothing to be proud of,” Harry added. “He’s a real prat.”

“That’s my cousin,” Cordelia said coldly. “I think we’ve had this discussion before, haven’t we? My entire life I only had my adoptive family, and now I have some blood relatives. I don’t care how lame they might be. No one gets to insult them but me!”

Buffy grinned. “Ah, I’m touched,” she said.

“If the poor kid is always taught blood lines are everything, it’s not surprising he would have an attitude and prejudice,” Willow said.

“And if the other houses are mean to him, he’ll be mean back—it’s a common defensive mechanism,” Xander added. Willow gave him an approving smile. They sometimes read her mother’s books in the summer when they were really bored.

“Malfoy is mean to everyone that doesn’t buy in to the blood superiority,” Ron added. “We’re purebreds, and he thinks we’re blood traitors.”

“It takes a lot of strength to pull away from family expectations,” Sirius said. He didn’t want to alienate his niece and added. “If I hadn’t had my friends, I would’ve probably not been able to. I could’ve been sorted into the snakes. Who knows what would’ve happened?”

“Don’t forget your other cousins,” Albus interjected. “Andromeda, whose daughter Nymphadora is an auror.”

“She’s really cool,” Harry added. “She’s a metamorphmagus.”

“That’s when a witch can change their appearance, right?” Willow said.

“Yes,” Sirius said.

“That’d be so cool!” Xander said.

“Normally, she just changes her hair color all the time,” Harry said. “But if she has undercover jobs, she can totally change her entire appearance.”

“That’d be so fun,” Willow said in envy.

“Why don’t we retire to one of the common rooms and have some tea?” Giles suggested. He glanced at Cordelia. “You can tell Sirius all about living in America and your adopted parents.”

“Sirius, you can use one of the empty rooms in the Gryffindor tower if that works,” Albus said. “That way you can be near Harry.”

“That will be fine,” Sirius said. He grinned at Cordelia. “I will clean up first.”

“I appreciate it,” she said, smiling at him. He seemed nice enough. Maybe he would finally be able to tell her all about her father or at least get her into the family house. She hoped they might find out what happened to her poor mother. Severus looked resigned to Sirius’ presence, which made Cordelia sad. Having two uncles who hated each other kind of sucked. However, she went to school on a hellmouth, so she figured she could handle that.

Severus asked Buffy to stay back a moment while everyone left but Giles.

“What’s wrong?” Buffy asked.

“Why do you think something’s wrong?” Severus wondered.

“Because you wanted to speak to me alone,” she replied.

“I just wanted to caution you about going into the Forbidden Forest,” Severus said. “Albus and Rupert believe you will be fine. However, I have misgivings. The place is forbidden for a reason.”

“I’m the slayer, remember?” she reminded him. “Kind of made for that kind of thing.”

“Yes, well, Rupert isn’t,” he said. “What if one of the man-eating plants grab him without warning? What will you do?”

“Make a salad with it’s leafy parts,” she quipped. 

“You could go with them, Severus,” Albus suggested. “At least until they are familiar with the dangers firsthand.”

“That will be fine,” Giles added. “We do not know everything we will encounter.”

“Not to mention there are some creatures in the forest we don’t want you to kill,” Albus added. “The centaurs, for one. They aren’t evil. They just don’t like to be bothered. In fact, you can ask Harry sometime about his encounter with Firenze. He saved Harry’s life a few years ago.”

“So what’s a centaur?” Buffy asked.

“You’ve not been studying your magical creatures, have you?” Severus said, frowning in disapproval.

“I know the most important one,” she said with a cheeky grin. “Me! I’m actually referenced as a magical creature in one of the books!”

“I think we’ll use the Forbidden Forest as a time of review and education,” Severus said.

“Capital idea,” Giles said. “It’s good for her to be able to multi-task.”

“Always with the picking on the Buffy,” Buffy complained as she opened up Albus’ office door. “Sun’s down. We should go now.”

“Let me go to my quarters and get some things,” Severus said.

“We’ll meet you at the exit,” Buffy said. “I gotta go get my weapons.”

Severus couldn’t help but noted how excited his daughter was at the possibility of slaying—it was a bit disturbing.

As he and Giles walked after her at a slower rate, Giles said, “It is how she is hardwired.”

“Excuse me?” Severus asked.

“Buffy is excited about slaying tonight, and you find that a bit disturbing,” Giles observed.

Severus didn’t know when he’d become such an open book, and it annoyed him to note the watcher could read him so well. “It is unusual,” he said uncommittedly.

“She is filled with all kinds of energy that normal humans don’t have. A good workout isn’t enough to curb her urge to hunt,” Giles remarked. “She’s a human predator, empowered to kill evil. The forest is full of all kinds of evil. I’m surprised she lasted this long.”

Severus nodded and split off to go to his own quarters. Would he ever understand his daughter the way Rupert did? He was both jealous and grateful for the man’s presence.

**** _*An Hour Later*****_

Sirius was having a great time hanging out with Harry and his friends. His niece Cordelia was beautiful and intelligent with a very dry wit. She and the boy Xander traded barbs frequently. It reminded Sirius of Lilly and James before they got together. Right now, they were in the mutual loathing stage. He idly wondered how long it would take before things changed? The Weasley twins were trying hard, though, to win his niece’s affection. It was amusing to watch.

“Are you okay, Sirius?” Harry asked.

“I am excellent,” Sirius said, smiling. “I need to get a message to Remus, so he can come meet Cordelia. He’ll be very happy to know her and to know that I’m free.”

“Yes. I wish he would come back and teach here,” Harry remarked.

“You know how bad the attitudes are against werewolves,” he said.

“It’s not right,” Harry said.

“No, it’s not,” Sirius agreed. “But it doesn’t have to always be like this. You can teach the next generation to not hate and be afraid.”

“Cordelia says that bloodline superiority is stupid, and that people are better because they are better looking, smarter, or more talented,” Harry said with a grin.

“She is a Black,” Sirius said, looking over at her as she told the twins about some American actor she loved. “But she was raised American. They are not much for bloodlines over there.”

“Did you know a guy named Hitler killed millions of people in the forties during the second world war?” Harry asked. “He did so because of bloodlines. Willow is Jewish, and her people were targeted. She says he was trying to create a master race. Eleven million people were killed because of him. Can you imagine?”

Sirius frowned. “I didn’t know there was greater evil in the world than what we faced here,” he admitted. “It’s disturbing.”

“Yea,” Harry agreed.

“How do you like my niece?” he asked.

“She’s okay,” Harry said. “She’s not as friendly as Buffy, though. You should’ve seen Buffy yell at my uncle when she and Snape picked me up. It was hilarious!”

“It’s hard to believe she’s related to Snape, isn’t it?” Sirius said.

“He does look better with that haircut,” Harry said. “Buffy said she convinced him to get it by agreeing to call him Father.”

“That’s clever and manipulative of her,” Sirius observed.

“She’s not a Slytherin,” Harry assured him. “She’s too fearless and brave. They lived on a hellmouth in America, and Buffy spend a lot of time saving them.”

“Severus told me that Cordelia saved her the night she met him. Did you hear that story?” Sirius asked. “She killed three vampires.”

“They’re pretty great,” Harry said, grinning. 

“You’re glad they’re here, aren’t you?” Sirius inquired.

Harry nodded. “It makes me feel better to have them here,” he said. “I can’t see them being afraid of Death Eaters.”

“Uncle Sirius,” Cordelia said, turning toward him. “Can you tell me about my father? Sev says that you might take me to the house he grew up in?”

“We can do that maybe on Sunday if you like,” Sirius said. “Your dad’s things are still in the house. Pictures of him.”

“That’s good,” Cordelia said. “My adopted dad is really great. He spoils me, but I’d like to know my real dad—what he was like. How he lived. How I came to be. Did he love my mother? What happened to them both?”

“Well, Regulus was much more a Black than I was,” Sirius said. “He seemed to embrace Voldemort and was happy to be a Death Eater. However, I think he had regrets. It’s why I suspected he died—they killed him when he refused an order or something.”

“Are there any laws against Death Eaters?” Willow asked. “How could they just get away with all the things they did?”

“Well, many of them were imprisoned in Azkaban with me,” Sirius said. “Others like Lucius Malfoy convinced the ministry that the were under a spell and were innocent.”

“Seriously?” Cordelia asked. 

“Unfortunately,” Sirius said. “I also expect he passed around a lot of money to ensure he stayed free.”

“He’s married to our cousin?” Cordelia asked. “Is she a Death Eater?”

“I don’t think she’s ever taken the mark, but she does what her husband says,” Sirius said.

“Where’s Buffy?” Hermione asked.

Xander and Willow exchanged a look. They both knew where she was, but they couldn’t exactly say.

Finally, Willow answered, “She’s training with her father and Giles.”

“Man, she takes her martial arts seriously,” Ron remarked.

Hermione, though, was beginning to be suspicious. Why did Severus need to be there? What did he know about fighting? Did he not trust Professor Giles to be alone with his daughter? There were too many questions concerning Professor Snape’s daughter, and Hermione hated not knowing everything.

***** _Later*****_

Severus returned with his daughter and Rupert feeling wrung out. His daughter obviously didn’t have the fear gene, and she’d given Severus a near heart attack with her foolish risks. He’d wanted to kill Rupert for not only not curbing her impulsiveness but encouraging it. The man had to be a Gryffindor and not the Ravenclaw Severus had initially thought. He couldn’t picture a Ravenclaw behaving in such a reckless manner or having so little regard to personal safety.

When they made it safely back to Hogwarts, his daughter turned and gave him a tight hug. “That was so fun, Father. I’m so glad you went with us!” she exclaimed. Then she waved at Rupert and practically skipped back to her room.

Severus glared at Rupert. “That was the furthest from fun I’ve ever experienced in my life!” he exclaimed. “She fought three vampires, two bugbears, and one rather large acromantula! I thought we were all dead on four separate occasions.”

“Yes, well, she fought demons nightly and vampires back in Sunnydale, Severus. It’s what a slayer does. She’s fine, and you held up quite well,” Rupert told him.

Severus started to berate the man, and then he realized that he had no right. It wasn’t Rupert’s fault that his daughter had been called to be a slayer. In fact, it could be his DNA as much as Joyce’s that made it happen. Resigned, he nodded. “Good night,” he said. Then he turned back to his room, more than ready for bed.

A few hours later, he woke up with the pain stabbing in his arm where his mark was. He was being called. The Dark Lord had probably heard about his part to free Sirius as well as his daughter and Cordelia.

What should he do?

***** _Chapter End*****_

_Take a minute to review, PLEASE!_


	14. Marked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do deviate from the book canon in this chapter as it makes more sense to me that Voldemort’s actually around in some real presence rather than people just randomly doing things on his behalf without direct contact from him. Creative license!

_*****Where We Left Off*****_

Severus got dress, preparing mentally to answer the Dark Lord’s summons. If he ignored it, the pain would just get worse. Not to mention, his role as a double agent would be compromised. He knew that he needed to speak to Albus, but he stopped at Rupert’s room on the way.

“I’ve been summoned by the Dark Lord,” Severus told him. “I am going to speak with Albus. Can you come?”

“Yes, of course,” Giles said.

Within ten minutes, they were in Albus’ office. “I’ve been called,” he explained.

“That’s unfortunate,” Albus said.

“What do I say about Buffy Anne and Cordelia? He has to have heard about them. That must be why he’s calling,” Severus said.

“Are you done being a spy?” Albus asked. “You can refuse the call.”

“He will make it most unpleasant,” Severus said grimly.

“We must find a way to remove your mark,” Giles said. “I will consult my books.”

“The Order needs me to continue as a spy,” Severus said. “But I do not want to endanger my girls.”

“They are safe here,” Albus pointed out.

“I cannot keep them locked up here,” Severus said.

“Buffy is quite able to take care of herself,” Giles reminded him. 

“What will you say when you are asked how no one knew of Buffy Anne’s existence?” Albus asked.

“I could blame it on Buffy Anne’s mother, but she will be here at the end of summer,” Severus said.

“Blame it on me,” Albus said. “Tell them I stole your daughter and bespelled her and her slight death broke the spell.”

“That might work,” Severus acknowledged. He knew it’d probably make his loyalty to the Dark Lord seem more certain. “If she’s sorted in Gryffindor, though, it could be problematic.”

“We are not tampering with the house sorting,” Albus said firmly. 

Severus nodded, not surprised. “Fine,” he said.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Giles asked. “If something happens to you, there is no telling what your daughter would do.”

“I trust you to keep her in line if something did happen,” Severus said grimly. “I will see you later. I must go.”

He wasted no time leaving the premises, so he could join up with his fellow Death Eaters. Being there with them was harder than before, and he felt a deep-seated shame. He was so unworthy of a daughter such as Buffy Anne. She was all that was good and pure, and he had aligned himself with these soulless murderers and defiler of women such as his own late sister.

“Severus, come here,” the Dark Lord bid. He stepped closer until he was standing directly in front of him. He glanced at Lucien, who was standing almost next to him.

“Yes, my lord,” he said, looking up expectantly at the grotesque figure. His presence was not quite so menacing as it once was, but he still was formidable. He kept a dark hood over himself, so that glowing eyes stood out, adding to his menacing and creepy presence.

“I hear rumors of strangers at your school,” Voldemort said. “Then I learn that you went to the ministry to get Sirius Black cleared of his charges and my dear Peter fingered. Explain yourself!”

Severus prepared himself for a blast of magic, punishing him for his actions, but it didn’t come. He spoke quickly. “I discovered not very long ago that I have a teenager daughter that is alive, hidden from me. She is a witch, and I only knew she existed when she suddenly appeared on my family tapestry,” he explained.

“What?” Lucius asked. “The rumors are true? You _do_ have a daughter?”

“It’s more than that,” Severus said. “A short liaison right after high school created Buffy Anne. Albus must’ve discovered it and spirited her to an American hellmouth in a place called Sunnydale, California.”

“A hellmouth? Really?” Voldemort asked, intrigued. “I have heard of such a place, but I have not known anyone to venture so far.”

“Well, I have, and I can assure you the rumors are true,” Severus said. “I was accosted by three vampires not long after entering the town. My life saved by a teenager named Cordelia, who I found out was my niece, daughter of my late sister and Regulus Black. It seems the hellmouth masks magical presence from our world.”

That announcement caused even more of a murmur from the Death Eaters.

“You have discovered offspring from the Black family tree? My son, then, cannot be the Black family heir?” Lucius asked, clearly upset at the news.

“Sorry, Lucius, but, no. Cordelia would be as she is a direct heir—unless, of course, he manages to convince some fool to bear his children.,” Severus explained. “Since Sirius was reinstated, though, she won’t get all of the fortune until he dies.”

“We’ll get on that,” Lucius said with a wicked gleam.

“Explain, Severus, why you helped clear Sirius?” Voldemort demanded.

“I had no choice really,” he said with a sigh of resignation. “My daughter befriended Potter and was hearing about the rumors concerning my association with you. I had to earn her trust somehow, so she would stay here for the school term. Her mother allowed her to spend the summer with me.”

“Your daughter is a witch?” Voldemort asked.

Severus nodded. It was working; they were buying what he was saying. “She and Cordelia both are. My daughter, though, is more powerful,” he said. Should he mention her friends? Draco would see them when classes resumed.

“That is good news,” Voldemort said. “You will bring her to me at first opportunity.”

Severus mentally groaned. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. She is getting used to our world, my lord. We do not want to push her too fast too quickly,” he said.

“Fine,” he grudgingly agreed. “We can wait until I gain my body to have her take my mark. Your niece, too. Let’s hope she takes after you and not her father and uncle.”

“I have ever confidence that Cordelia will be sorted in my house,” Severus said, praying it was true. Surely, _one_ of the girls would be sorted into his house?

“You better hope so,” Voldemort said with a warning.

Severus stepped back as they discussed some other things that had nothing to do with him. When he started to slip away, Lucius came up to him.

“Severus, I’d like to have you and your girls join my family for dinner Sunday,” Lucius asked. “It will give the girls a chance to meet Draco.”

“That will be fine,” Severus said. “I must warn you, though, that they are Americans.”

“It should make for an interesting dinner,” Lucius said. “You know how my wife loves to entertain.”

“You will tell her about her cousin?” Severus asked.

Lucius nodded. “She will be delighted that Draco will have family at the school,” he said.

Severus walked out of the building with Lucius. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t get punished in any way. If the Dark Lord got his physical body back, his power would be even greater. 

“Cordelia was adopted by a loving family, but she hasn’t any siblings,” Severus said. “She and my daughter went to the same school, but there not exactly close. Both, though, are excited to meet Draco.”

“Well, then, we look forward to seeing you on Sunday,” Lucius said. 

Severus breathed a sigh of relief as Lucius apparated home. Then he followed, arriving back outside the gates of Hogwarts. 

He’d not only survived unscathed, but he was given a reprieve. 

**** _*The Next Day*****_

Percy was scheduled to arrive that afternoon, so the group had an early start to London. All of the teens insisted on going with Harry to the coven. Cordelia and Willow planned out a few tourists stop before they made it to the covens. Then it was Diagon Alley afterward.

Buffy had insisted that Buckingham Palace was the first stop, and she was stunned to find out that Harry had never been.

“Seriously? You live in this country, and you haven’t seen the palace of your queen?” Buffy asked in surprise.

“It’s not like my aunt and uncle would ever take me on a vacation,” Harry said.

“Well, that’s going to change,” Sirius vowed, having also tagged along. Giles was glad to have another adult supervise the group. Severus stayed home so that he could speak with Albus about his meeting with the Dark Lord.

“Why isn’t Uncle Sevvie here?” Cordelia asked Buffy.

“He had a meeting with Dumbledore,” Buffy said. “He promised to take us to the London Eye next weekend, though.”

“What’s the London Eye?” Ron asked.

Cordelia snickered. “Man, you magic folk are seriously out of touch,” she muttered.

“It’s this giant Ferris Wheel on the Thames River. It’s the largest in Europe,” Willow said.

“Imagine the view you could see!” Buffy said. She was very much looking forward to some daddy-daughter time.

They used a port key to get to London, which saved a lot of time. Touring the palace and then the Tower of London took them to lunch at a restaurant actually called The Place to Eat.

“I love this town!” Buffy said after they left.

“Because you ate enough for three people,” Cordelia said with a snort.

“And I can still keep my girlish figure,” Buffy said with a smug grin.

Cordelia rolled her eyes but said nothing. Sirius just grinned, thoroughly enamored with his niece. She was gorgeous and witty, his favorite traits in a female. She was clearly a Black but without the cruel disdain his mother had. He could tell she often fell disdain for her cousin, but there was a clear respect. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Sirius had a strong feeling that there was something about Buffy Anne that Cordelia knew, but he and Harry did not. 

Both girls treated Harry with affection, and he ate up their attention. Of course, the twins were vying for the lovely ladies at ever turn. Willow and Xander were too busy gawking at the sights to feel ignored.

Sirius apparated to Devon with Harry and Cordelia while the twins took Willow, Xander, Buffy, and Giles. Severus insisted that the American teens not try apparating until they got caught up on their other classes.

Harry was very anxious when Giles introduced him to the witches. “Agnes and Shirley are the two that will be taking point, Harry,” Giles introduced. One was very old and the other had red hair like the Weasley’s and appeared to be the same age as Sirius. 

“What exactly are you wanting to do?” Sirius asked.

“Right now, we just want to examine him and conduct some tests,” Shirley explained. “We won’t do anything without consulting you.”

“Very well,” Sirius said, nodding.

Sirius and Giles stayed in the room to watch their tests while the other teenagers explored the property. It was a nice size manor, and they roamed around. George bribed Ron to distract Fred, so he could take Cordy for a walk around the property’s small pound.

Ron and Xander were engaged in a rock skipping contest with Willow judging and calling out encouragements. Fred was throwing insults, challenging the winner.

“Finally, I have you all to myself,” George said gleefully. Cordelia had allowed him to link his arm with hers, and he was relishing every second.

Cordy smiled up at him. “You did maneuver that quite cleverly,” she said.

“Thank you,” he said with a smug grin. 

“How is it really having a twin?” Cordelia asked, glancing up at him.

“It’s quite wonderful really,” George said. “I never feel lonely. Fred is always up for some fun. I always have someone that understands my every thought and mood. Fred knows what I’m thinking sometimes before I do.”

“I’m not sure I’d like someone knowing me that well,” she admitted. “It’s kind of scary. No one could hurt you the way that person could.”

“But that’d be like hurting himself,” George explained. “I could no more hurt Fred on purpose than I could myself.”

“So how do you see this ending then?” Cordelia pointed out. “Won’t one of you be disappointed or hurt if I chose the other?”

George was silent as he considered. “Well, if one of us really loved you more, the other would step back,” he said.

“What if you both loved me?” Cordelia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Then we’d convince you to take us both!” George declared.

Cordelia laughed and rolled her eyes. “Yea, right,” she said.

“Think about it. You’d never have to choose, and double the adoration, double the attention,” George told her.

Cordelia stopped walking and turned to face him. She considered how to show him that he was so very wrong. Her arm went to his neck, and she pulled him down. “I think you need to learn something,” she said softly. Then she kissed him.

George’s mind blanked out as Cordelia Chase-Black kissed him like he’d never been kissed before. The kiss was endless, and he tried desperately to keep up.

Finally, Cordelia pulled back, giving him a smile of satisfaction. “There. Now maybe you will understand. I’m Cordelia Chase, and I don’t share,” she said.

Then she sauntered away, a smile on her face. 

Buffy had been showing Hermione how to do back flips a few yards away, and she waved at Cordelia, who she saw embracing one of the twins. From a distance, she couldn’t tell if it was George or Fred. 

She walked toward her cousin. “What’s going on? Which one are you playing with by the pond?” she asked.

“That’s George,” Cordelia said, glancing back. She grinned to see George staring after her in shock and awe, so she gave him a little wave.

Dramatically, George clutched his heart and fall back onto the grass, causing Cordelia to giggle. How did she find these nuts so charming? If Harmony could see the twins, she’d not be impressed. It was funny how little her prejudices in Sunnydale mattered here.

“He’s totally bananas over you,” Buffy said. She looked at Cordelia, noticing that she looked a bit flushed and distracted. “Are you feeling a bit flushed, Cor? Did Georgie get your motor running?”

“He thought he and Fred could share me,” Cordelia said a bit haughtily. “I showed him how wrong he was.”

Buffy’s mouth fell open in shock, and then she burst out laughing. 

“Hey, Harry’s coming outside,” Cordelia pointed.

The girls moved quickly to find out what Harry was told by the coven. “What did they say, Harry?” Buffy asked when they made it to his side. 

Harry looked scared and shaken. “Voldemort left a piece of himself inside me,” he shared. 

“What do you mean?” Cordelia asked. 

“He marked me,” Harry said. His hand rose and rubbed his scar, and he shuddered. “There’s a bit of his soul or something under my scar. I am connected to him.”

“Does that mean he’s connected to you, too?” Buffy asked, a bit horrified at the implications.

Harry nodded. “I think so,” he said.

“God, Harry, that blows,” Cordelia said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Buffy hugged him. “Don’t worry, Harry. We’ll still be your friend,” she said. Then she pulled back and moved her hair revealing her neck—the side that the Master had bit. “I have a mark from a monster, too.”

Harry’s eyes widened as he saw the bite mark. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

A haunted look came into Buffy’s eyes. “I was bitten by a very old and very ugly master vampire,” she revealed. “He killed me, actually, by throwing me unconscious into a pool of water. Xander saved me, though.”

“Wow,” Harry said, gazing down at her in awe. 

“I got through that,” Buffy said. “We’ll get you through this.”

Somehow, looking at the smaller woman reassured Harry, and he felt less afraid.

Buffy had a fierce look in her eye that made Harry believe her.

She wasn’t afraid of anything, and he could be brave if she was with him.

_*****Chapter End*****_


	15. Family Ties

****** _Same Day in the Afternoon******_

Percy Weasley wasn’t sure why he was at Hogwarts. He had graduated and passed all his examines. An important job at the ministry occupied all of his time. Why would he waste time helping out Americans? It wasn’t like he needed to spend time with his insufferable brothers. They barely tolerated him, and the feeling was mutual. If it wasn’t for the red hair and the common house at Hogwarts, he might’ve doubted they were actually related.

However, when Headmaster Dumbledore asked for a favor, one mustn’t refuse. Percy could also admit to being curious. Who were the Americans?

“Percy, I am so glad you decided to join us,” Dumbledore said to him as he arrived in Hogwarts.

“I am honored that you asked me for assistance,” Percy said.

“You will find this out soon enough, but the new students are from Sunnydale, California. One of them is Professor Snape’s daughter, Buffy Anne, and his niece Cordelia Chase,” he shared.

Percy couldn’t contain his surprise. “I was unaware that Professor Snape had any family so young,” he said diplomatically.

“Yes, well, the niece was hidden on a hellmouth to disguise her signature, and his daughter suffered a drowning and was resuscitated. When she appeared on his family tapestry, he went and located her,” Dumbledore explained. “That’s when he ran into his niece. Two of their classmates were also discovered to possess magical powers. There names are Willow and Alexander. I believe you should work with the two of them. They have been best friends since they were five, and both are very different.”

“Very good, sir,” Percy said.

“Willow is much like you. She loves to learn and takes her studies very seriously,” Dumbledore said. “I believe you will get along with both of them.” 

A house elf popped into the office. “The children have returned, sir.”

“Thank you, Pinky,” he said.

“I will go down and greet them,” Percy said. He opened the office door and Giles lowered his hand.

“Oh, excuse me,” Giles said.

“I’m sorry. I was just leaving,” Percy said.

“Rupert, this is Percy Weasley,” Dumbledore introduced. “Percy, this is Rupert Giles. He is a teacher and mentor of the American students, and he will be teaching ancient languages and helping with Muggle Studies.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Percy said.

“Likewise,” Rupert said. “The children are in the Gryffindor common room.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“How was the trip to London?” Albus asked Rupert.

“It went quite well,” Rupert said. “I am grateful that you allowed the twins to aid in the apparating as it would’ve taken the trip much longer.”

“A port key would’ve sufficed, but I know how brilliant those twins are, you know,” Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“They are quite gifted,” Rupert said. “Too bad they want to use their powers for mischief.”

“Oh, we spent time in mischief when we were young, and we turned out okay,” Albus said.

“I did much worse things than mischief,” Rupert said with a regretful sigh.

“How did things go today with the coven?” Albus asked.

Rupert told him their discovery.

“Hmmm,” Albus said thoughtfully. “So this means that Harry has a connection to the Dark Lord? He might be able to see what he sees?”

“Possibly but the same goes the other way. He can see what Harry sees,” Rupert said. “And as you know, we have things about Buffy that he can’t know.”

“But Harry doesn’t know those things,” Albus pointed out.

“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. It took Xander and Willow less than a week to know all Buffy’s secrets when they met her,” Rupert shared. “She’s not that good at keeping things to herself.”

“Does the coven believe they can remove it without harming Harry?” Albus said.

Rupert nodded. “They do, but they need to research it further,” he said. “Harry was most upset as you can imagine to find out that he has a part of the man who murdered his parents inside him.”

“It is disconcerting,” Albus admitted. “The tactical disadvantages probably outweigh the possibility of knowing his plans. Let me know if I can assist in any way.”

Rupert nodded. “I will,” he said. “I believe the kids are wanting to go to some quidditch game next week. Will it be safe? Do the Death Eaters attack such a public place?”

“They normally attack smaller venues,” Albus said. “Let’s hope they do not branch out as there will be a large number of potential people that could be harmed if they did.”

Rupert bid him goodbye and left his office considering. Did he allow the children to go in such a public place? What would Joyce say if he allowed them and something happened?

He went to Severus to discuss the matter. Severus was in his office, preparing lessons for the children.

“Buffy Anne told me that they had, and I quote, ‘loads of fun,’” Severus said, smiling.

“Yes, they enjoyed themselves,” Rupert said. “She is looking forward to going out with you, however.”

“She wants to go to the quidditch national championship next weekend, so I was thinking the following weekend I would take her and Cordelia out,” Severus said.

“Do you think it would be safe for them to go? What about those Death Eaters? They do like to attack public venues,” he said.

“I would hope they wouldn’t be so foolish as to attack such a public gathering,” Severus said with a frown. 

“Would it not be a good place to instill fear in the populace?” he pointed out.

Severus considered and shrugged. “It is possible, I supposed, but I have not been informed of such plans,” he said.

“You do know if something happens and Buffy is there, she will respond like the hero she is,” Rupert said.

“Do you think she should not go?” Severus asked.

“I think she will be guaranteed to attract the attention of any Dark Eaters present if they do decide to attack,” he pointed out.

Severus nodded. “You are probably right,” he said. He hated to disappoint her. “She will be most upset to miss out on what her friends will experience.”

“Maybe you should plan your outing with her and Cordelia at that same time,” he suggested.

“That is a good idea,” Severus said. “We have to keep her from the Dark Lord’s attention as long as possible. That I have gotten a reprieve is an unexpected boon.”

“Yes, it was fortunate that you weren’t forced to play your hand,” Albus said.

“So we’re agreed? You will keep Buffy from the large public gathering just in case?” Rupert said to Severus.

He nodded. “Yes. I will explain it to her,” Severus said. 

The two men left Albus’s office. Albus looked at his phoenix. “To be able to see what Tom is thinking would be quite a boon. It’s too bad really,” he said thoughtfully.

****** _Elsewhere******_

Percy wasn’t surprised that his own brothers gave him a tepid welcome. However, he was very surprised that the Americans greeted him with such warmth and welcome.

“Hey, it’s great to meet you,” Xander said, holding out his hand. “I hear you’re the sane one in this family.”

“Well, I tend to stay out of trouble,” he said diplomatically.

“I’m Buffy,” Buffy introduced. “Professor Snape’s daughter.”

“Really?” Percy said, a bit stunned by her image. It was nothing, though, compared to the beaming smile of her cousin Cordelia who asked, “What’s it like working at the Ministry? Are they a bunch of tight-asses or do you get to see some real political behind the scene stuff?”

“Well—” he started to say and was cut off—predictably—by the twins.

“Who cares what that loser sees?” Fred asked.

“Like anyone would let him witness anything good,” George added.

Cordelia glared at him. “Rude much?” she asked. Then she pointedly hooked her arm through Percy’s. “Ignore the twin asses.”

“I normally do,” Percy said with a dry smile. “Although I’m surprised to hear anyone call them out for their rudeness.”

“I can be a rude bitch when I want to be, but if I had the family that you have, I’d be nicer,” Cordelia said.

“Hi,” a soft voice said. 

Percy looked up and was captured by intelligent, dark green eyes. “Hello,” he said back. Her red hair was a surprise, but she didn’t remind him at all of Ginny.

“That’s Willow. She’s the smart one in our group—great with computers and the book learning,” Buffy said, giving her a proud smile.

Percy blinked. They actually admired someone who loved books? These Americans were very strange.

Ron was looking at the Americans in confusion. “Why are they being nice to Percy? He’s a real prat,” he said to Harry and Hermione.

“Americans are more tolerant of obnoxious behavior,” Hermione said. “Good thing or the twins wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Percy is a Weasley,” Harry pointed out. “You don’t always have to like your family, but he’s not nearly as bad as my cousin.”

“That’s true,” Ron said.

Sirius pulled Cordelia away from Percy, and he took Willow and Xander to the library to study.

“I was thinking that you might like to see the Black family home tomorrow,” he said. “Would you like that?”

Cordelia’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes!” she said. She was really looking forward to seeing the home her birth father was raised in. “Do you think you might find something about how my parents came to be together?”

“I hope so,” Sirius said. What would he do if he found out that his brother had raped Snape’s sister? How could he share that with his niece? Sick at the thought, he stood up. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Okay,” Cordelia said, happy at the thought that tomorrow she would get to learn more about her birth parents.

***** _The Next Day******_

Willow gave Percy a shy smile at breakfast. “Can I sit with you?” she asked. No one else was up yet, but she was always an early riser.

“Of course,” he said, smiling at her. She had been surprisingly quick at all the questions he posed the evening before. It was clear that she took her studies very seriously. Xander had been much more relaxed, but he, too, wasn’t a complete loss. Willow’s gentle prodding had gotten him to admit to knowing answers to things they were studying.

Willow had found Percy to be very focused and intelligent, and he didn’t talk down to her. He was so very different from his brothers, however. It was fascinating to her. 

“So what’s it like having so many siblings?” she asked. “I’m an only child, and it was very lonely. I only had Xander and Jessie.”

“Who’s Jessie?” Percy asked.

“He was our other best friend,” she said, a haunted look in her eyes. “He died last fall from a vampire bite.”

“I’m sorry,” Percy said, a bit sickened at the thought. He didn’t know anyone that had been killed by a vampire. In fact, he wasn’t even sure they were real creatures. “So they really do exist?”

Willow nodded. “Yes, I grew up on a hellmouth, which they love to live on,” she said. “Our school paper has an obituary.”

Percy looked horrified. “It’s really a good thing you are here. Hogwarts is probably the safest place on Earth,” he said. “Dumbledore is the strongest wizard alive, and the house has ancient magics protecting it.”

“That’s good to know,” she said. “So back to my original question. What’s it like having so many siblings?”

“Exhausting mostly,” he admitted. “The twins are right under me, and there so—” he paused.

She grinned. “I know. They are both brilliant and maddening,” he said.

Percy smiled, nodding. “Yes, and they often embarrass me and insult me. I feel mostly outnumbered,” he found himself admitting.

“I can see that,” she said. “I have these girls at my old school that used to corner me in the bathroom or hallway and make fun of my clothes and stuff.”

“I bet you’re happy to be away from them,” he said.

“Mostly,” she said. “Cordelia was the ringleader, though.”

Percy was surprised. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that,” he said. “She was so nice to me.”

“Yea, she can be—normally to guys,” she remarked.

Percy looked confused by that. “What do you mean? I’m not the kind of guy girls normally go out of their way to be nice to,” he said.

“Really? I think you’re very nice,” Willow said with a shy smile.

Percy flushed. “Thanks,” he said. “You’re very nice, too. I’m sorry that Cordelia wasn’t nice to you, but I still have a hard time picturing her being mean to anyone.” He wasn’t used to attractive girls go out of their way to show him kindness or take up for him the way she had.

“She didn’t strike you as the type of girl who thinks she is better than everyone else?” Willow asked with a grin.

Percy gave her a rueful smile. “Well, maybe,” he said.

“She’s been a lot better since Buffy came to my hometown, though,” Willow admitted. “And a whole lot better since we’ve been here.”

“That’s good,” he said. 

“What are your other brothers like?” Willow inquired.

“Charlie was a prefect like I was when he was here, so he is pretty smart. But like the twins and Ron, he was mad about quidditch—played on the team when he was here,” Percy shared. “Now he lives in Romania, working with dragons.”

Willow’s eyes got wide. “Dragons? Dragons are _real?_ ” she asked.

“Well, yea. You didn’t know that?” he asked.

Willow shook her head. “I’ve not spent as much time studying magical creatures as I probably should,” she admitted.

“Bill is the oldest, and he’s in Egypt breaking curses,” Percy said. “He was Head Boy, too, when he was here.”

“Weasleys are all a bunch of smarty-pants, huh?” she said with a grin.

“My sister is, but I don’t know that I can say the same thing about Ron,” Percy said.

Willow giggled, enjoying his company. He was, though, very different from his brothers.

****** _The Black Manor******_

Sirius was afraid of what would be found in his home, so he asked Rupert to come along on his trip home. Rupert thought it best that Willow and Xander stay behind.

Cordelia insisted that Buffy come, and Severus didn’t wait for an invite. 

“It’s my sister,” he reminded Sirius. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night until he learned that she hadn’t been abused and murdered as he had always thought. 

Naturally, Harry was accompanying them, but Sirius drew the line at the rest of the children. No need to subject them to his mother.

“I can’t believe I’m going to see your house,” Harry said excitedly.

“It’s a dismal, filthy place,” Sirius warned as they approached. “Prepare yourself.”

Cordelia looked up at the large mansion that suddenly appeared. “Wow!” she exclaimed.

The disarray of the inside, though, could not detract from the apparent opulence, and Cordelia was impressed.

“Kreacher!” Sirius hollered.

Cordelia jumped, and Buffy pulled out a knife from somewhere—much to her father’s dismay—as a really ugly creature appeared.

“Oh, it’s you,” Kreacher said, looking up at Sirius with disinterest and contempt.

“Relax,” Severus said. “It’s just their house elf.”

“House elf? They’re magical?” Buffy asked.

“Have you not been reading your magical creatures book?” Severus asked his daughter with a frown.

“It has me listed in there, Father,” she said. “It’s insulting.”

“They’re at Hogwarts, too,” he said. Buffy just shrugged.

Harry looked up. “What? Why would you be listed in a book of magical creatures?” he asked.

“Ignore her. She’s more blonde than she appears,” Cordelia said, giving Buffy a pointed look. “So what’s your elf’s name?”

“I am Kreacher,” the elf said, eying the young women with some interest. 

“Kreacher, have you done a _nything_ since I’ve been away?” Sirius asked. “This place is filthy.”

“My mistress and young master are both dead, and you are a blood traitor. Why should Kreacher work so hard?” he asked with a sniff.

A wailing echo of “Blood traitor! In my house?” could be heard.

“What was that?” Buffy asked.

“That’s my mother,” Sirius said, pointing to a velvet wall curtain a few feet away. “Kreacher, you will be happy to know that this young lady is the daughter of Regulus, my niece. Her mother was Cordelia Snape, Severus’ sister. She was named after her mother, Cordelia. This is his daughter, Buffy Anne, Cordelia’s first cousin.”

Kreacher’s eyes widened at the announcement and then filled with tears. He threw himself prostrate at Cordelia’s feet and began to wail. “Oh, my master’s daughter is so beautiful! She is a worthy witch, and I have been a bad Kreacher, letting her beautiful home become so soiled. Forgive me, mistress! I am so sorry. You can beat me if you like. I will be so devoted and do such a good job for my kind, beautiful mistress!”

Cordelia threw Buffy a desperate look. “Help,” she muttered. “There will be no beatings.”

Buffy was bent over laughing. “You finally have the adoring audience you’ve always wanted,” she said, still giggling.

“Just speak kindly to him,” Severus advised. “It’s not like the Blacks were ever worthy of his devotion.”

“Dobby loves me because I showed him kindness—house elves are enslaved to their wizarding families,” Harry shared.

Buffy sobered, and her eyes turned stony. “What?” she asked, looking at Sirius for an exclamation.

“Hey, I’m not responsible for generations of wizardry traditions,” he said quickly.

“But you are responsible for how you treat this poor creature,” Rupert pointed out.

“Who’s in my house?” a voice cried out.

“Okay, that’s it!” Buffy said, marching toward the curtain and pushing it back. She jumped back, startled when a very unpleasant woman in black glared at her.

"Stains of dishonor, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!" the woman screeched.

Sirius sighed in resignation and glared at the paining. “Meet my mother, Walburga Black,” he said. “This is your grandmother, Cordelia.”

Cordelia wrinkled her nose. “Seriously? Walburga? That’s the worst name I’ve ever heard!” she said.

Buffy agreed but stayed silent, relieved that the woman was no blood relative of hers.

“You got some tramp pregnant, I see,” Mrs. Black said with a disdainful sniff. “I won’t be recognizing your filthy half-breed as any granddaughter of mine!”

Cordelia’s face flushed red with anger. She stepped forward. “You shut your mouth, you disgusting bigot! How dare you!” she said. 

“I think we might need to find a blow torch,” Buffy said.

“It won’t work. The spell protecting these portraits can’t be removed,” Sirius said.

“Let’s ignore the stupid bitch,” Cordelia said, glaring at her grandmother. “I hope my father left behind something to make this worthwhile.”

“Reggie’s room was upstairs,” Sirius said.

His mother’s eyes widened. “She is my dear, sweet Regulus’ daughter? Oh! Oh! My beloved son will carry on the Black family line! I knew he’d not fail me! Merlin be praised!” she gushed.

“Whatever,” Cordelia said, no longer interested in the hag. She looked down at Kreacher. “It’s really nice to meet you, Kreacher.”

Kreacher looked up at her in awe. “Thank you, kind mistress. The pleasure is all mine!” he gushed, jumping up. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to see my father’s room,” she said.

“Oh, I will be happy to show you,” he said, moving quickly to the stairs.

“Well, let’s hope we find something,” she said. She started up the stairs with Buffy and Harry a step behind her.

When they made it up the stairs, Sirius stepped in front of her. Kreacher opened Regulus’ bedroom door, and Cordelia entered it with trepidation. What if she found out that he had raped her mother? How would she deal with that?

This room, unlike the rest of the house, was kept in immaculate condition.

“It’s clean,” Buffy observed.

“Kreacher must have kept it up,” Sirius said, looking around.

“Of course, I have,” Kreacher said. “Master loved Kreacher and was a worthy son—unlike you—you blood traitor.”

“Kreacher, Sirius is my uncle, and I’d really appreciate if you’d be nice,” Cordelia said. 

“Kreacher will do anything kind mistress asks,” he quickly assured her.

“Thank you, Kreacher,” she said.

He went over to his brother’s bed and opened the drawer. “Here it is—his journal. The last one he was writing in.” Sirius picked it up and begin to read, looking through it.

Cordelia braced herself. What would it say?

_*****To Be Continued*****_


	16. Meeting the Malfoys

_*****Where We Left off*****_

Cordelia waited impatiently while Sirius read through her father’s journals. “So what does it say? How about you read it aloud?” she asked.

“ _I met a vision of loveliness. Does it matter that she is almost a muggle?”_ Sirius read. He glanced at Severus. “This is dated about a year before your sister disappeared.”

He read silently, relief coursing through him. “They were in love,” he said. 

“Let me see it,” Severus ordered.

Sirius handed him the journal. “ _Cordelia favored me with a kiss. I am the happiest of men. How will she handle my mother? I have to find a way to free myself from this quagmire,”_ he read.

“That sounds like a relationship,” Buffy commented. “That’s good, right?”

“Maybe,” Severus admitted. He read further. 

_The Dark Lord discovered I laid with a woman without magic, and he is furious. He knew it wasn’t just a mere rape, which wouldn’t have bothered him at all. When I wouldn’t tell him her name, he hurt me. There is no doubt he would hurt her if he discovered who she was. I am so scared for Cordelia and our child. I have made arrangements to have them smuggled out of our world and sent to America. I pray they will be safe there. The locket is my only leverage._

“That can’t be it!” Severus said, looking through the pages. They were all blank. Although he was relieved to know Regulus wasn’t a rapist and murderer, he needed to know more.

Sirius took it back from him and read through it. Then he read it aloud for everyone to read.

“Who do you think helped him get me out of here?” Cordelia wondered. It made her so angry to know that her parents went through that.

Severus’ mind raced as they thought about what he read. The Dark Lord never indicated that he knew Regulus had reproduced. Lucius seemed genuinely surprised. Who would have helped Regulus? What locket?

“So it appears that we need to discover who helped him and what’s the significance of this locket,” Rupert said thoughtfully.

Kreacher looked distressed. “I will go and bring my kind mistress some tea!” he exclaimed. Then he disappeared.

“Should we look around for this locket?” Buffy wondered. 

“May as well,” Cordelia said, going through the dresser drawers.

Kreacher came back with the tea, and they went to the connecting sitting room to have some.

“Kreacher, do you think you would mind cleaning some of the downstairs? I’d really appreciate it,” Cordelia asked, giving him a beaming smile.

Kreacher looked dumbstruck for a moment. Then he threw himself down prostrate at her feet. “Kreacher will be happy to make his kind mistress’ home immaculate!” he gushed. Then he blinked away.

“You don’t think you should’ve asked him about the locket?” Harry said. “House elves usually know everything that goes on in a house.”

“Kreacher is the worst house elf ever,” Sirius said. “Look at the state of this place! He couldn’t possibly know anything.”

“Well, we should be going,” Severus said. “The girls and I have dinner plans.”

“Oh, we’re going to see our cousins?” Buffy asked.

“Malfoy isn’t your cousin,” Harry pointed out.

“Buffy’s my family, and they’re my family,” Cordelia said with a shrug.

“Draco is my godson,” Severus said coolly.

“Really? How come I didn’t know that?” Harry asked.

“I can’t possibly explain all the things you don’t know, Mr. Potter,” Severus said with a disdainful sniff.

“Father,” Buffy said, giving her dad a disapproving look.

Severus rolled his eyes but said nothing. Instead, he quit the room.

“Sorry about that, Harry,” Buffy apologized.

“I’m used to it,” Harry said. “He’s not been so bad since you’ve been around.”

“Can’t expect him to change overnight,” Sirius said. “He told the truth and got my charges dropped. I no longer care if he’s an ass.”

“He’s not an ass,” Cordelia said coolly. “He’s a teacher, and Harry’s a student. We can’t expect him to be like Giles. I’m ready to go.” She took one last look around the room, feeling incredibly sad.

Harry didn’t see a point in pointing out that Snape was a big giant ass most days—she just hadn’t seen that side of him. The poor girl lost her parents, and Harry could understand how that felt. Cordelia needed Snape to be a good man, so Harry could keep his thoughts to himself.

***** _The Malfoys’*****_

Narcissa Malfoy was still in shock at the news that her sweet cousin Reggie had a daughter. That he had her before he died with Severus’ dead sister was even more unsettling. How did it come to be?

She was getting dressed for the dinner that Lucius had invited Severus to so that they could meet her cousin and Severus’ daughter. Severus having a daughter was the most astounding news of all.

Lucius came into her dressing room as she was putting on her earrings. 

“I think all is in order,” he said, meeting her eyes in the mirror. 

“I am still having trouble believing all of this,” she admitted. “To think that Severus has a daughter nearly Draco’s age, and he never said a word.”

“He claims that he didn’t know the girl he’d had an affair with was pregnant. She was a muggle—no one of consequence,” Lucius said with a shrug.

“Do you think Dumbledore had something to do with hiding her from him?” she asked.

“Possibly or Severus could’ve done it himself,” Lucius said.

She turned and looked at her husband in surprise. “Do you think he would dare such a thing?” she asked.

“Well, if the woman was a muggle, he wouldn’t have been able to marry her,” Lucius pointed out. “It’s what I would’ve done in his shoes.”

“Do you think it was a good idea to bring her here then?” she asked.

“She died and was brought back, so his house magics knew she existed,” Lucius said. “It was only a matter of time before our lord discovered her existence. He would’ve been very angry if Severus wasn’t the one to tell him.”

“Lucky for Severus the girl is a witch and of some use,” she said.

“Only if she marries well,” Lucius said dismissively.

Narcissus bit her tongue, annoyed at his sexism. However, she learned long ago to keep her opinions to herself.

“What I find the most surprising is that Regulus got Severus’ sister pregnant,” Lucius said. “She must have been very beautiful to have attracted Regulus. He risked much for a muggle.”

“She wasn’t really a muggle but a squib. And Severus truly didn’t have a clue?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, I really don’t think so,” he said. “He was most upset when she died, and I think if he had known about a niece, he would’ve at least made certain that she was cared for.”

“So she’s a Black and a quarter squib,” Narcissus murmured. “I believe that is acceptable.”

“Of course. As a Black, she will be formidable. Naturally, Severus will ensure that Sirius does not try to take what is hers,” Lucius said.

“Draco will be very excited to have a cousin at Hogwarts,” she said.

“Let’s hope the girl doesn’t follow after her other uncle and end up in Gryffindor,” Lucius said.

They went downstairs and found Draco in the study, looking at the newspaper. He looked up when they entered. “Hello, Mother. Father,” he said.

“Draco, your cousin will be here soon with Professor Snape,” his mother said.

Draco nodded. “And his daughter, right?” he asked.

“Yes, Severus is bringing both girls,” Lucius said. “It’s important that you make a good impression as we want to bring the girls close, especially your cousin, who is a Black.”

“Most likely, she will be placed into your house,” Narcissa said. “However, they _are_ Americans, and they will probably have all the free thinking, equality insanity the Colonists are known for.”

“Not to mention, they did not even know they were magical until Severus came upon them,” Lucius said.

Draco curled his lip in distaste. “You mean they’re muggles?” he asked.

“There will be none of that!” Narcissa admonished. “It is not their fault as both were basically stolen from the wizarding world.”

“They are a bit older than you, so be mindful of offending them before they become close,” Lucius advised.

The doorbell rang. “They’re here,” Draco said, standing up. Although he may not be showing it, he was very excited to meet cousins his own age. 

When Professor Snape entered his house accompanied by two stunningly beautiful young girls, he couldn’t hide his dismay. These were the girls related to Snape? Immediately, though, he knew which one was Cordelia Black as she had his mother’s regal profile. 

“Wow, it’s like the family of golden beauties,” Buffy said, smiling at the attractive blondes her father was introducing her to.

Severus winced. “Forgive my daughter,” he said. “She is prone to the most outrageous comments that I blame on her American upbringing.”

“Giles says it’s ‘cause I’m from California,” Buffy said, grinning up at her father.

Draco couldn’t believe that this ray of good cheer was his headmaster and godfather’s daughter. 

“I find her quite charming,” Narcissa said, giving her an approving smile. This girl would drive the Dark Lord insane, and Narcissa was greatly amused at the thought.

“Cordelia, this is your cousin, Narcissa and her son Draco. Lucius is his father, of course,” Severus introduced.

“It is so great to meet you,” Cordelia said, holding out her hand to her cousin. Narcissa ignored her hand and pulled her in for a hug. Cordelia smiled at Draco, who took her hand into his.

Draco was pleased at her genuine warmth and lost some of the reserve he normally kept when meeting strangers. Smiling back, he said, “It’s great to me you. Welcome.”

“Draco, do you want to show them around why we have a drink? Dinner will be ready in ten minutes,” his mother said, giving the girls a friendly smile.

“I was hoping you could tell me about my father,” Cordelia said.

“I will be happy to,” Narcissa said. “I will show you some family photos, too, if you’d like.”

“That would be amazing,” Cordelia said, giving her a beaming smile.

“Come on,” Draco said, gesturing. “I’ll take you around the grounds.”

As the girls followed Draco out of the room, Narcissa said, “Those girls are very beautiful, Severus.”

Severus gave a proud smile. “Yes, I know,” he said. “Buffy Anne is utterly precocious, though.”

“Is she the reason you cut your hair?” Narcissa asked.

Severus looked uncomfortable as he nodded. “She insisted and then said she’d call me father if I did,” he admitted.

Lucius laughed. “What a sneaky little chit!” he said in admiration. “No doubt, she’ll be in your house with skills like that.”

“I am not sure of that,” he admitted. “She lived on a hellmouth, and she has been training in martial arts for a few years now. She tends to rush in and help whenever someone is in danger.”

Lucius frowned. “That sounds very much like a brainless Gryffindor,” he said.

“She isn’t brainless,” Severus said with a glare. “In fact, her teacher Mr. Giles is also teaching her strategy and how to defeat her opponents. She is a complicated person, but yes, she could very well be sorted in that house.”

“The Dark Lord won’t like that,” Lucius warned.

“You know as well as I that I cannot control what the Sorting Hat does,” he said sourly. “She is my daughter—a very protective and dangerous, young witch. It will complicate things if she is sorted into Potter’s house, but we will deal.”

“What of Cordelia?” Narcissa asked.

“Well, she, too, is complicated,” Severus said. “When I first met her, she saved my life from three vampires.”

“Lucius told me that, but I wasn’t sure that I believed him,” Narcissa said in bemusement.

“Obviously, a brave young lady,” Lucius said in disapproval.

“She used a water gun to dispatch of them,” Severus shared. When they looked confused, he elaborated. “It is a large plastic toy that muggle children use to shoot each other with water in the summer time.”

“How did such a weapon work on vampires?” Lucius asked.

“She filled it with holy water,” Severus said, smug.

Lucius smiled. “That’s ingenious,” he remarked.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Both girls have a combination of bravery and cleverness.”

“Are they ambitious?” Narcissa asked.

“Cordelia is most definitely,” Severus said. “Buffy Anne says that she was a lot like Cordelia before moving to Sunnydale. The dangers of the hellmouth made her care less about popularity and reputation.”

“I still cannot believe a hellmouth has people living upon it,” Lucius said. “Just think of all that dark energy.”

“I do—frequently,” Severus said. “My daughter was drowned by a Master vampire who was seeking to open the hellmouth. She lives now because of her friend Alexander—he gave her CPR. That’s a muggle method of reviving drowned victims.”

While the adults learned more about the girls, the girls were learning about Draco. Each of the Americans linked arms with him. “So Draco, do you have a girlfriend?” Buffy asked, smiling up at the boy.

“Well, not exactly,” he said. 

“It’s really great to have family,” Cordelia said. “I was adopted by the Chases. They are very wealthy and loved me a lot.”

“So you really never knew you were a witch?” Draco asked. 

“No,” Cordelia said.

“Never had any incidents of anger and losing control of your magic?” he asked.

Cordelia shook her head. “Not at all,” she said.

“That’s because everyone at school either lived in fear of Cordy or adored her,” Buffy said with a smirk.

Draco grinned, appreciating that. “What about you?” she asked.

“Well, I did sort of burn down my high school gym in Los Angeles, and I got expelled. That was before I moved to the hellmouth,” Buffy shared. “I never thought it was magic, though.” No sense in sharing the full truth.

“I cannot imagine not knowing who I am,” Draco said. “Knowing where you come from and who your people are matters a lot in our world.”

“Well, we’re Americans, Draco,” Buffy said. “You know we don’t take much stoke in blood lines. It’s who you are and what you do that matters.”

“Please,” Cordelia said with a sniff. “Some people are just trash, and you know it, Buffy. If they’re raised to be thieves or criminals, then they will be so. Who your family is can affect who you become.”

“Maybe a bit, but you can overcome who your family is,” Buffy said. “Look at Xander. He saved my life, and his parents are not the best at all.”

“Who is this?” Draco asked.

“Oh, my two best friends from back home came with us. Turns out they’re magical also,” Buffy said with a happy smile.

“What are the odds?” Cordelia said with a snort. “It’s like someone above wants little miss slay-gal to have all her allies in one place.”

“Slay-gal?” Draco asked in confusion.

“Oh, that’s her little pet name for me ‘cause I slay in my dress,” Buffy said, holding her hands down so he could view her very becoming green dress.

Cordelia realized she’d said too much and worked to cover her faux pas. “Yep, that’s it. She is a slayer of fashion—makes me puke!” she said with a snicker.

Buffy narrowed her eyes and put a hand on her hip. “Excuse me? I slay fashion? Just because my other dad is in L. A. and too busy to take me shopping like he used to, doesn’t mean I’ve lost my fashion sense! He’s taking me shopping before the term begins!” Buffy said.

Draco grinned at the two girls. “Do you guys disagree a lot?” he asked.

“Yes,” Cordelia said.

“No,” Buffy said at the same time. Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then she grudgingly admitted, “Okay, sometimes.”

Draco laughed, enjoying them. They were bold and honest—not like anyone he knew.

“We are so glad, though, to have a British cousin that can help explain things without talking to us like we’re stupid,” Cordelia said. “If I have to listen to another lecture from Hermione, I might scream. I thought Willow was bad with the book knowledge.”

“Granger? You know her?” Draco asked, surprised.

“Yes, she’s one of our summer tutors, and the Weasleys,” Cordelia said.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Ah, they stuck you with a bunch of senseless Gryfs? I’ll talk to Father,” he said. He almost said blood traitors but remembered his father’s words.

“Well, Hermione is really smart, right?” Buffy pointed out. 

“She’s a right know-it-all,” he acknowledged.

“And the twins are brilliant at potions, right?” Cordelia countered.

“Percy was Head Boy, I heard,” Buffy said.

“Fine,” Draco grudgingly admitted. 

Buffy grinned. “You really hate those fearless blokes, huh?” she said. 

“Not as much as I hate Potter,” Draco admitted.

“That’s too bad,” Buffy said. “I was hoping all my friends would get along, but that’s okay.”

Draco groaned. “Potter’s there, too?” he asked.

Cordelia laughed at his glum look, and she threw her arms around his waist. “Don’t worry, cuz, you’re our family, so we’ll pick your side,” she said.

“But that bloodline superiority bullshit won’t get you far with me,” Buffy said firmly. “People are good to me, and I’m good to them. Even people who suck major ass, I’ll still save from a vamp.”

“Father told me that your town had loads of vampires,” Draco said. “I can’t believe you fought them. And without magic.”

“There’s lots of things your so-called muggles could do that might surprise you,” Buffy said with a smirk. 

“We better head back to the dining room for dinner,” Draco said. “I hope you both come around again soon.”

“Father is going to take us next week to see the sights in London,” Buffy said. “He’s afraid the big quidditch game will be too much excitement for me.”

“You’re going to miss the World Cup?” Draco said in surprise.

“The twins are devastated,” Cordelia said with a smirk.

“I take it you’re obsessed with the sport, too?” Buffy asked with a grin.

“I’m the Seeker for my house,” Draco said.

“It’s a great sport—I’ll admit,” Buffy said. “They taught us how to play. I was seeker against Potter and Cordelia was a hell of a beater.”

Draco looked at his cousin in surprise. “Really? That’s great!” he said. “If you get sorted into my house, we could use a good beater.”

They made it back to the dining room. Buffy sat next to her father, which put her across from Cordelia, who sat next to Draco. His parents were on each end of the table.

Narcissa led the table in pleasant conversation as the food was passed around. Buffy, always hungry at dinner time, said little until she’d packed away quite a bit of the food.

Lucius took note of her appetite and was amused. “I see you are not like other girls,” he said, grinning at her.

Buffy looked up from her lambchop. “Excuse me?” she asked, distracted. The food was so good that she didn’t really care about much else at the moment.

“Most girls your age pick at their food,” Lucius said. “It’s refreshing to see such a healthy appetite in a young witch.”

“Buffy knows how to pack the food in,” Cordelia said with a smirk.

Buffy gave her a dirty look and shrugged. “Well, I have a fast metabolism,” she said.

Narcissa laughed. “Oh, to be so young again,” she said with a sigh. “So tell us about your mother, Buffy Anne. Does she have any magical abilities? Does she know about our world?”

“Of course, Mom knows,” Buffy said. “We had to tell her.”

Lucius frowned in disapproval. “Muggles are not to know about our world,” he said.

“My mother isn’t a _muggle_. She’s my _mother_ ,” Buffy said with a note of cold menace in her voice as she glared at Lucius.

Lucius eyebrow went up at he detected a clear threat from the young witch. Maybe she wasn’t quite so Gryffindor after all. 

“Buffy Anne,” Severus said, giving her a look of warning.

“No _one_ insults my mother,” she said with a hint of repentance. The air seemed to vibrate with the force of her anger.

Draco’s mouth fell open as he watched his almost-cousin stand so boldly up to his father—she was mesmerizing in her power.

Narcissa—ever the hostess—smiled. “Forgive my husband. He is set in his ways and a bit old-fashioned,” she said. “As a mother, I can only hope that my Drake would be so open about life-changing events in his life.”

“I meant no offense,” Lucius said with a smile that laughed warmth. “It’s just been a long-established rule in the wizardry world.”

“Yes, well, Buffy Anne and her mother lived on a hellmouth. They were exposed to all kinds of supernatural elements,” Severus said. “Rupert, her teacher, felt that Joyce could handle the truth about our daughter and myself.”

“She knows of you, too?” Lucius asked in surprise.

“Mrs. Summers is going to be working at the school,” Cordelia said. “She’s teaching an art class.”

“The Headmaster was quite pleased to have someone of Joyce’s talents and credentials to teach the first and second years,” Severus said.

“That will be quite nice to have your mother so close,” Narcissa said to Buffy. “I know the house is so empty when Drake is gone to school.”

Buffy might not like the husband, but she couldn’t help liking his wife—the woman was very gracious. “It is, thanks,” she said.

Draco couldn’t help thinking what a total nightmare it would be to have his parents at his school. 

“I love my adoptive parents, but I’d die if they worked at my school!” Cordelia said, reading his mind.

The adults laughed, and the tension was eased. 

That is until Buffy looked at Lucius and asked, “So I heard you were a Death Eater. Did it hurt when you took the mark?”

***** _To Be Continued*****_

_Yes, I left it there as it was a good stopping point. This chapter came pretty easily. I hope you enjoyed it. Did I do the Malfoys justice? Share your thoughts. When I’ve read stories that tried to redeem Lucius, I stop reading. I won’t be doing that, but I always thought his wife and son could be written either as villains or anti-heroes. Thanks for reading._


	17. Friendships

***** _The Malfoys Still*****_

" _So I heard you were a Death Eater. Did it hurt when you took the mark?"_

Buffy's question hung in the air as she gave Lucius an innocent, wide-eyed look.

"Buffy Anne!" Severus rebuked, horrified at her breach in manners.

"How about you ask your father about that?" Lucius said coolly. "After all, he has one of his own."

Cordelia glanced at Draco, who looked at surprised as she felt. What was happening?

"Yes, well, from what I hear my father was never considered the right hand of Voldemort, bigot extraordinaire," Buffy said.

"One mustn't listen to gossip, dear," Narcissa said smoothly. "Lucius was under the Imperius curse and had no choice."

Buffy laughed. "That's convenient," she said.

Lucius looked at her in shock. How dare this chit speak to him so? His eyes narrowed, and he considered how to respond. His wife gave him a slight shake of her head. Always wise, he heeded her advise and said nothing, just gave her a cold look. However, the brazen girl did not look at all intimidated.

"Buffy Anne, that's enough!" Severus said, glaring at her. "We are guests in their home, and this line of questioning is unacceptable."

"Sorry," Buffy mumbled, her father's anger finally getting through to her.

Draco couldn't believe the girl's audacity. Was he offended, or did he admire her? He wasn't sure, but he did have a feeling that his new godcousin was going to shake things up a heck of a lot at school.

Severus managed to quell his daughter's comments, and the dinner continued in relative peace.

"I asked Draco if he wanted to go with us next weekend to see more sites, Father," Buffy said, moving things to a neutral topic—much to everyone's relief.

"I told her that the Quidditch World Cup is happening, and we have tickets," Draco said.

"Yes, the Weasleys and Harry are going to it," Cordelia added. "I'd rather go shopping in London."

"Me, too," Buffy said with a grin.

Narcissa sensed an opportunity to pull the girls closer, and offered, "I'd love to join you if it's not an imposition."

Severus wasn't sure how he felt about that as he was wanting some time with just his girls. He considered it. Maybe he could have her meet them for lunch and then shopping. They could spend some time without her in the morning.

"You could meet us for lunch and then shopping afterward if you'd like," Severus said. He glanced at the girls. "That is if they don't mind."

"Well, she is very well-dressed—the most well-dressed witch I've seen since we've arrived," Cordelia said, smiling at her aunt in approval.

"Very true," Buffy agreed. "I think that would be fine." She flashed Draco a mischievous smile. "And you can tell us embarrassing stories about Draco!"

Her comment made the adults laugh, dispensing all the tension.

When they made their way home, Buffy felt a strong sense of guilt as her father hadn't spoke a word to her.

"You really screwed up this time," Cordelia whispered to her when they made it back to Hogwarts.

"Shut up," Buffy growled.

"Good night, girls," Severus said, hardly glancing at them as he headed to his room.

Buffy couldn't believe it, and she stared after him. He hadn't even looked at her, telling her more than anything just how upset he was with her.

"Aren't you going to apologize?" Cordelia asked her.

"I did as soon as we left their house. You were there," Buffy reminded her.

"I know, but he is really mad," Cordelia pointed out. "You might want to give it another try."

"Should I wait and let him calm down?" Buffy wondered.

"It depends," Cordelia said. "Is he the fester and get worse as I brood a lot kind of guy or the time heals all wounds kind of guy?"

Buffy gave her a sour look. "Like you even need to ask that!" she exclaimed. Then she turned and ran after her father, who walked way too quickly for an old guy.

Her father was just entering his room when she caught up with him. "Father!" she called out, making him pause.

Severus regarded her coolly. Love for her was stronger than anything, so his fear was even greater. Didn't she understand the dangerous game she was playing?

"It is late, Buffy Anne," he said.

"I don't want you to be so mad at me," she said in a small voice. "Can I come in?"

Unable to deny her anything, he stepped back and let her in. "Do you want any tea?" he asked, needing something to help distract him.

"No, thank you," she said. She moved to stand in front of him. "I am really sorry. I just couldn't help it. The man is evil—I could sense it. When I'm around real darkness, I've got to attack in some way."

"Do you get the danger I am in all the time? I'm a double agent, and Lucius believes me to be his ally," Severus pointed out. "I could be killed. So could you and your cousin."

Buffy's eyes filled with tears as guilt swamped her. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I don't want anything to happen to you!" she cried and threw herself against him.

Severus felt guilty for yelling and wrapped his arms around her. He led her over to his sofa. "Buffy Anne, don't cry. I forgive you," he assured her. He handed her his handkerchief.

Buffy took it and wiped her face. "I just hate the hypocrisy of that man," she mumbled.

"So do I," he said. "But fighting him now isn't the goal."

"Then what is the goal?" Buffy asked.

"We have to keep the Dark Lord from getting a solid form. If he manages to, we have to be ready to kill him without getting Potter and the rest of us killed," Severus said.

"What about all those Death Eaters like Lucius who can just hurt people, hiding behind masks?" Buffy pointed out.

"The Aurors and ministry will do what they can to handle them," he said.

Buffy scoffed. "Yea, like the cops back home did," she said sourly.

Severus frowned at her. "We are all doing the best we can," he said brusquely.

Buffy sighed and leaned against him. "I know. I'm sorry," she said. "This is just so different. I'm not good with intrigue. I'm a weapon, Father. You point me at the target, and I fight."

Severus tilted her chin up, so he could look at her. "I don't think that's all you are," he said. "You are my daughter, and Slytherins are crafty and strategic. For all your strength and bravery, I know your brain is quite capable of looking at the big picture and planning your moves. That's what I need you to remember. This is not a battle—we're fighting a war. They'll be many battles before it's over."

Buffy considered what he was saying and nodded. "I get it," she said. "I'll do better. I promise."

Severus finally smiled at her. "I know you will, daughter," he said. He put his arm around her and sat with her in silence for several minutes.

"I guess I better go check in with Giles," she said, pulling away.

"I'll see you in the morning," he said, standing with her. He walked her to his front door, and she opened it.

Before stepping out, she turned back to him. "I love you, Father," she said.

Severus felt the cold inside he'd been carrying for so long melt even more at her words. It was getting harder and harder to hold onto his miserable Death Eater façade. She gave him so much joy, and he was determined to not lose her in this fight he'd drawn her into with her presence in Hogwarts.

"I love you, too," he said.

Buffy flashed him beaming smile and skipped away.

Was he a selfish bastard for bringing her here?

***** _The Next Day*****_

Percy went to breakfast before heading in for his Monday at work. It had been a surprisingly pleasant weekend. The Americans were not what he expected at all. He had only spent time with Willow and Alexander, but they both were friendly and eager to learn magic—Willow especially. She was so sweet and earnest. Teaching her made him feel important—a feeling he normally lacked when in proximity of his twin brothers. They were always so flashy and brilliant at everything; he could never compete.

Willow came to breakfast with a sleepy-eyed Buffy. She sat down next to Percy. "Is it all right if I join you?" she asked him.

"Of course," he said. "I'm glad to see someone else up so early."

"It's too early," Buffy grumbled as she sat on Willow's other side.

"Professor Flitwick is working with us on our charm lessons," Willow said. "It seems Xander and Cordelia are still on the second-year stuff while we're ready for third year."

"I loved charm class," Buffy said happily. "It's like legal cheating. Want something to move—throw a charm. Want to change your hair—find a charm. It rocks!" She perked up as she spoke, and then she grabbed her coffee that the house elf made especially for her.

"Well, I think you both should be ready for your sixth years by the time September rolls around," Percy said.

Willow gave him a shy smile. "I hope so," she said. "I've never been behind in school in my life."

"Don't worry, Will. You'll be Head Girl by our senior year," Buffy assured her.

"Do you mean seventh year?" Percy corrected.

"Yep," Buffy said. "It's what we call our last year—senior 'cause we have seniority of all the other ages."

"I'm so glad we don't have to deal with Mr. Snyder this year," Willow added.

"Who's that?" Percy wondered.

"He was this troll of a principal we had," Buffy said.

"He picked on Buffy a lot," Willow said. "And me by association. I had to do this talent show—I hate public speaking."

Buffy laughed. "It was so bad. We did this horrible reading," she said, remembering.

Willow giggled. "It did stink up the place, but at least we suffered together," she said.

"Being an only child, it's good to have friends," Buffy said. She looked at Percy. "But you have all those siblings. You probably don't know what it means to be alone."

"I wouldn't say that," Percy said, feeling a bit awkward. "I don't really have much in common with my siblings. They're so—" How did he explain how it felt to not be as brave or clever or funny as four of his brothers? Ron didn't need to shine as he was the baby brother, and Ginny was the only girl. Percy might have been Head Boy, but all of his brothers were bloody brilliant. His older two even had the same distinction. One brother had an exciting career with dragons and the other was breaking curses. Percy had to find a way to distinguish himself in the ministry—get back some of the respect his father had lost.

"Insane?" Willow asked, grinning at him.

Percy found himself returning her smile, grateful for her understanding. "A bit," he said.

"Well, that's still better than being always alone," Willow shared. "My parents started taking trips for work when I was ten and leaving me home alone. They're gone for days or weeks at a time. You can't imagine how lonely that is to never have anyone around at all when you're home."

Buffy gave her friend a look of sympathy while Percy looked shocked. "They left you all by yourself? That's allowed in America?" he asked.

"No," Buffy said grimly. "But they raised Willow to be obedient and responsible, so she never had anything happen to get them in trouble with the authorities."

"It's good to learn to be self-sufficient," Willow defended.

Percy felt bad for her and glanced over at Buffy, who was rolling her eyes where Willow couldn't see. "That's good, I guess," he added, feeling unsure.

"Well, I'm just glad you're here with us now, and you'll never be alone again," Buffy said, hugging her.

"Not to mention when you're sorted into a house you will always have people around you—a group to belong to," Percy added.

"You guys put way too much stock in house sorting," Buffy said with a dismissive snort. "I don't care what house I'm put in. I'll talk to whomever I want and be friends with whomever."

"I'm worried that I'll be put in a house without anyone I know," Willow admitted.

"You know you do get a bit of a say," Percy shared. He looked around to make sure his siblings weren't around yet. Luckily, they weren't.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked. Buffy leaned over to hear better since he dropped his voice to a near whisper.

"When I was sorted, I almost got put in another house," he admitted. Then he looked scared that he admitted it. "Please don't tell anyone—I've never shared that before."

"I won't," Willow said.

"Me either," Buffy assured him. "What house did you almost get put in?"

"I'm a Weasley, but I'm too ambitious," he said, looking down. "I was almost in Snape's house."

When they didn't look horrified like he expected, he slightly relaxed.

"Oh," Willow said. "I bet you're not the only one who was almost put in there. People aren't just one thing, so your feelings have to come into play at some point."

"My family would never have forgiven me," Percy said in a low voice.

Hermione entered the dining room, and Percy realized it was getting late. "I'm going to have to get to work before I'm late," Percy said, standing.

"Oh," Willow said, looking up.

"Have a good week at work," Buffy said. "Sorry I didn't get to hang much with you. Next time."

Percy was surprised at the young woman's consistent friendliness. Girls that looked like her rarely had time for him. "Sure," he said. He smiled warmly at Willow. "I really enjoyed working with you."

Willow blushed and looked at her hands a moment before looking up. "Yea, I did, too. I'll see you next Saturday?" she asked.

"Are you going to be at the Quidditch World Cup?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, we're all going except for Buffy and Cordy," she said. "They're going out with Professor Severus."

Percy said goodbye and nodded to Hermione as she sat down across from Buffy and Willow.

"Good morning, girls," Hermione said.

"Good morning," Willow said.

"'Morning," Buffy said.

"How was dinner at the Malfoys?" Hermione asked.

"It was okay," Buffy said with a shrug. "Father got upset with me for being lippy with Lucius."

"Really?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Yep," she said.

Harry and Ron came and joined them, interrupting. "Can you believe it? Less than a week until the Quidditch World Cup!" Ron announced excitedly.

"Hardly at all," Buffy said dryly.

"Where did you disappear to last night, Buffy?" Harry asked as he picked up his fork.

"After I got my dad to stop being mad at me, I went to Giles' and did some training," she said. "I didn't feel very social."

"What did you do to Snape?" Ron asked, curious. Snape was right down pleasant since they'd been here with his newly discovered daughter and niece. He didn't think there was anything Buffy could do to upset him.

"I asked Lucius if it hurt when he got his Dark Mark," Buffy shared, causing Ron to choke on the juice he was drinking and Harry to spit out his eggs.

"What?" Harry asked in shock.

Buffy nodded. "I really did," she admitted. "Father was very angry."

"Oh, man, I wish I could've been there!" Ron exclaimed in awe.

"What did Lucius say?" Hermione asked.

"That he was under the Imperius curse," she said, not sharing everything.

"Yea, like anyone believes that," Ron said with a snort.

Cordelia and Xander finally dragged themselves to breakfast, joining the conversation.

"The twins said they were sleeping in as they were up late perfecting a new charm," Xander shared.

"What are we talking about?" Cordelia asked.

"Buffy was telling us about dinner at the Malfoys and upsetting Snape," Ron said, giving her an admiring look. "She's so brave."

"That's true," Xander said, flashing her a wink.

"What about Draco? How did you find him?" Harry wondered. "Was he his normal insufferable self?"

"No, he was fine," Buffy said with a shrug.

"That's my cousin," Cordelia said with a glare. "I'm the only allowed to abuse my relatives!"

"Yea, yea," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Mustn't hurt rat-boy's feelings."

Cordelia threw her biscuit at him, hitting him on the cheek.

"Hey!" Ron protested. Then he picked it up and bit into it.

"Draco seemed okay," Buffy said. "I liked him just fine, and so did Cordy. Get over it." She wasn't about to get dragged into their house feuds, no matter if she ended up in their house.

"We gotta go, Buffy," Willow said, nudging her as they saw Professor Flitwick looking for them.

After they left, Harry looked at Cordelia. "I don't mean to offend or start a fight, but I have to ask something," he said.

"Go ahead," Cordelia said.

"You're not going to let the Malfoys convince you that blood purity is right and that Voldemort was an okay guy or anything, right?" he asked.

"Of course not," Cordelia assured him.

"Then all right," Harry said. Ron started to protest, and Harry shook his head. "We'll trust you to be who we think you are and not worry about the rest." They had already begun changing even Snape for the better, so Harry was always going to give them the benefit of the doubt. He knew, too, that Buffy was the main reason he was reunited with Sirius, and he would give her his loyalty for that reason alone. He put up with his cousin for eleven years, so he could very well learn to put up with Draco—no matter how much he detested the git.

Ron grumbled but said nothing more. There was still a lot of summer left, and he didn't want to alienate potential housemates and friends.

***** _Several Days Later*****_

Xander was glad it was the weekend as they were going to have a mostly study free weekend. Percy was coming to work with him and Willow a bit, but that was all on the agenda. It was so nice to be away from the tension of the hellmouth and his family life. The night before, the Scoobies all sat down and wrote letters and had pictures ready to mail back home to family. Giles had gotten Cordelia's photos developed from their weekend incursion into London, so they all had some fun pictures to send home.

The girls called home once a week and spoke to their parents, but Xander didn't. He knew as long as he wrote a letter, his parents would be fine.

His two new best buds—otherwise known as the Weasley twins—joined him at breakfast.

"So we're ready to tell our parents today about our plans to launch Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," Fred shared.

"That's great," Xander said. These two had quickly become close friends of Xander's. It was nice to have guy friends again. Although they could never replace Jesse, it meant so much to have someone to share his humor with.

"If you want to join us as a junior partner, we've decided to take you on," George added.

Xander's eyes widened. "Seriously?" he asked.

"Yep," Fred said. "You're really good with people, so we want you to be the business man. That business plan that Willow helped you create for us is genius. Mum and Dad will have to come on board."

"You know they're not going to want you to dropout of school," Xander said.

George glanced at Fred. "Well, we were considering it, but we think things are going to be so much more exciting around here with you and the two beauties and our new sister from another mother," he said. He'd picked up that from Cordelia, who'd joked about Willow being a forgotten sibling of theirs.

"So we're going to finish school," Fred said. "We're going to ask Mum if we can open our shop in the spring on the weekends. As long as we make enough to cover the rent on the shop, I think it's a go. We'll get enough products developed this summer to make some real money when school starts."

"Then we'll open full-time in the summer," George continued.

"Willow said she'd get you a website to sell some of your items that non-magical people would be interested in," Xander asked.

"I'm not sure Mum will like that kind of exposure," George said.

"Dad will, though," Fred said. "He loves anything muggle."

Ron joined them. "Mum said she is coming to get us this afternoon," he told his brothers. "Xander and Willow are welcome to stay the night if you want."

"Isn't Hermione and Harry going with you?" Xander asked. "That's a lot of people."

"Well, yea, but Mum will find room," Ron said with a shrug.

"Giles is also coming to the match tomorrow, so we'll probably just meet you there," Xander said.

Buffy came skipping into the dining hall. "Hey, guys!" she said.

"Good morning, lovely," Fred said, flashing her a warm smile.

"You are in a good mood," Xander observed.

"Mom owled and said she found a buyer for the art gallery!" she said excitedly. "She was going to keep a manager and run it, but she decided that'd be too much of a headache. She's going to wait until next summer to sell the house if things work out for her here. She'll probably be ready to move here in another two weeks or so after she finishes showing the new owner the ropes."

"Wow," Xander said. "That's awesome!"

"Yea," George said. "We can't wait to meet—"

"Your mum," Fred finished.

"She says by Fourth of July for sure," Buffy said.

"It's going to be kind of lame being here on the Fourth," Xander said, frowning.

"What's that?" Fred asked.

"You don't know the day us superior colonist shook off the yoke of British rule?" Xander asked with a grin. "We call it the Fourth of July. We have fireworks, foods, and loads of fun."

"Probably won't be celebrating it here," Buffy pointed out.

"Well, if it's fireworks you want—" George began.

"It's fireworks you'll get!" Fred declared.

Buffy grinned. "Thanks. We'll remind you," she said.

"The twins want me to sign on as a junior partner in their new business," Xander told Buffy.

"That's really cool," Buffy said. "I'm not sure why you'd want that responsibility before you graduate, but more power to you."

"Being your own boss," Fred said.

"Making money," Xander added.

"What's not to like?" George asked.

"Good points," Buffy said.

Willow came in, and Percy was with her. "Look who's here," she said.

"Hey, Percy," Buffy said, waving.

"Hello," Percy said.

"Brother," George said.

"Here to take the fun out of the day, huh?" Fred said.

"I'm here to do what I was asked to do," Percy said coldly.

"Rude, much?" Buffy said, frowning at Fred.

Percy wasn't used to anyone taking up for him against his brothers, and he glanced at her in surprise. "I know Mum is coming this afternoon. We're just going to work on a few things this morning," he said.

"Cordelia said you could work with us after lunch," Buffy said. "If that's okay."

"Sure," Percy agreed.

"Well, I'm ready," Xander said, standing up.

They spent their Saturday either playing or studying. Then Molly Weasley showed up to collect her brood.

Ginny was with her and was very eager to see everyone.

While the teens were chatting with her, Molly stepped aside to speak to Giles, Sirius, and Severus.

"We will be having an Order meeting next weekend," she told them. "Has Albus invited you to join us, Rupert?"

"We discussed it briefly," Giles said. "We have not quite decided what to do about Buffy."

"She is a child and cannot join the Order," Molly said firmly.

"Buffy is not a child," Giles said firmly. "She is gifted in ways no one else is and is meant to fight evil."

Molly looked upset. "She's too young," she insisted.

"She is sixteen," Severus said. "I'm not sure we can keep her out of it. I took her to dinner at the Malfoys last weekend, and she almost challenged Lucius."

"Oh dear," Molly said.

"If we don't give her a role, she is more likely to get into trouble," Giles said.

"The others will try to follow, and I do not want my children involved until they are of age," Molly said firmly.

"That is your choice," Severus said. "However, there are things about Buffy Anne that you do not know. We can reveal it at the next meeting."

Molly pursed her lips but said nothing.

"Mum, we're ready," Ron said. "Willow and Xander are coming with Giles and Sirius tomorrow."

"Remus is going to join us," Sirius said.

"I can't wait!" Harry declared, hugging his godfather.

The groups separated, saying their goodbyes, leaving the Scoobies with Giles, Severus, and Sirius.

"So what are we going to do?" Xander asked after the Weasley train left.

"I think we totally need to go see a movie!" Buffy said with a grin.

"A movie?" Sirius asked.

"It's a muggle form of entertainment," Severus said. "It's has moving pictures."

"Summer blockbusters are a must," Xander said.

"There's no movie theatre near here," Giles pointed out.

"Well, good thing we have flying brooms, magic fireplaces, and adults with the ability to teleport, huh?" Cordelia said with a smirk.

"Apparate," Severus and Sirius corrected at the same time.

The teenagers laughed while Severus and Sirius looked uncomfortable being in such accord.

"You can't tell me that Scotland doesn't have a movie theatre?" Buffy said.

"I'm sure it does," Severus said, frowning. He hated not knowing something, and having his daughter think he didn't know it was even worse. "I can ask Albus as he might know."

"So we can go? Dinner and a movie?" Buffy asked.

"I have all that gold in the bank," Cordelia said with a grin.

"That means your treat, right?" Xander said.

She shrugged. "Sure," she said. "As long as I get veto right on the movie."

"It has been some time since I've seen a good show," Giles said.

"I'd be glad to join you," Sirius said, smiling at his niece, who seemed very excited. He'd take any time with her that he could get.

"You should totally call Remus to join us," Cordelia said. "I'd love to get to know your closest friend."

Sirius was touched and happy to include his friend. "I'll go floo him now," he said, moving to his quarters.

"I will go speak with Albus if you all really want to go," Severus said.

"Yes!" Buffy said, happy. After he left to speak to Dumbledore, she turned to Willow. "We so have to pick a movie that really shows these wizards that normal people are awesome!"

"Totally," Willow agreed.

"Too bad there's no internet here," Xander said.

Willow sighed. "Don't remind me," she said. The place was nearly perfect except for cold they will have eventually—although she was looking forward to that—and the lack of technology.

Three hours later—after a lovely dinner at a Scottish-style McDonalds—Severus found himself sitting in a darken movie theatre between his daughter and niece.

***** _Chapter End*****_

_Yes, I'm sure I'm the very FIRST HP FF writer to have them eating at McDonalds! I could just see those crazy Americans doing that. I've polled my college students about how many of them had eaten in McDonalds while overseas, and all that had been overseas had. After a while, Americans wants something familiar to eat, so I didn't think it was that crazy._

.


	18. The Dark Mark

_*****The Next Day*****_

Buffy woke up Sunday and stretched contentedly. It still amazed her how used to Scotland she was getting after just a few weeks. Although she did miss home and her mother especially, Hogwarts had become home already. Of course, when she was placed in a house, she would have to embrace a bit of change. Having her friends here with her made the entire thing so much easier. She got up and grabbed her notebook that she kept next to her. Giles said it was a good idea to write down slayer dreams as soon as she opened her eyes. 

Now, however, she wanted to write down the evening they had the night before. It had been so fun. Watching her father in a totally new environment, though, had been what made it so great for her. Buffy decided to write a letter.

_Dear Angel,_

_I sent you a letter last night, so I’ll wait a few days before sending this one. I just wanted to share my evening with you, so I’m writing you before breakfast. Today is the day of this crazy championship game on actual broomsticks that witches and warlocks play, and Cordy and I are going to spend the day with my father. Last night, all the other teens had left already, and we decided to go see a movie. Now in America that’d be no big deal and not even that interesting. But here, it’s a whole thing. For one, they don’t have TV or movies here. Father had never seen a movie at all. Can you imagine? Even you, the oldest guy I know, has seen movies! My uncle’s brother Sirius, Cordy’s uncle and my father’s sworn enemy (whole other story) and Remus, Sirius best friend, who is also a werewolf, were going to go with us. As Cordelia is now an heiress, she said that she’d pay for dinner._

_Well, Scotland is a bit more backwoods than London, and I hadn’t seen any movie theatres in Hogsmeade, the nearby village. Father went and asked Dumbledore, the headmaster, who told him we would find one in a town called Glasgow. When we apparated there—that’s a wizard word for teleport—there wasn’t a big movie theatre. There was a really small, rustic one called Glasgow Film Theatre. It had just one movie there, but when we all saw it, we agreed that it was perfect. It was the Lion King. Perfect, right?_

Buffy smiled as she paused in her writing, remembering. Cordelia had curled her nose at the theatre at first, but then Xander had spotted the glorious golden arches nearby and threw himself at her feet begging.

“Please, please, please. We have to go to McDonald’s. I crave—I yearn—I will die if I don’t get some delicious French fries and a Big Mac,” Xander said dramatically.

“Totally,” Buffy agreed. She wasn’t a huge fan of fast food as the Doublemeat Palace in Sunnydale had always tasted a bit off to her. However, she would admit that the sight of something so familiar in such a foreign place made her a bit homesick. Los Angeles had fast food places everywhere, and she’d only lived in Sunnydale for a year.

“I’d enjoy some chicken nuggets,” Willow added. “I mean I know there’s probably no actual chicken in it, but it still good!”

“There’s a nice Scottish pub right over there,” Sirius pointed out.

“I’m sick of Scottish pubs!” Xander complained. “I want some good ‘ole American processed food—like God intended!”

Buffy could sense Cordelia weakening and decided to help out. “Come on, Xander. You know Queen Bee would never lower herself to go to such a mundane place like McDonalds,” she scoffed.

“I’ve been to McDonalds!” Cordelia insisted. “I love their cappuccinos.”

“Sure,” Buffy said, her disbelief clear.

“Fine,” Cordelia said, fuming. “We are going into that Scottish McDonalds!”

“Cordelia, do not allow Buffy Anne to taunt you into going to a place you are unhappy with,” Severus said, giving his daughter a disapproving look.

“Hey!” Buffy said, protesting. “Majority rules. I know this isn’t America, but it’s a democratic nation, right?” She looked at Willow, who nodded.

“McDonalds is great,” Cordelia said.

Buffy grinned, thinking about the dinner. The menu wasn’t the same—there was some weird Scottish things. However, they really enjoyed a taste of home.

She continued her letter to Angel.

 _We found a McDonalds near the theatre. Can you believe we got Cordelia to buy dinner at Micky D’s? I’m not sure Father liked his fries, but I know he enjoyed his Big Mac. After dinner, we went to the movies. Father didn’t like Sirius commenting that Scar bore a strong resemblance to him. I thought they were going to whip out their wands right there. And no, that’s not a euphemism as they actually have wands!_ Buffy chuckled, remembering.

_I also thought Father was going to strangle Sirius and Remus after the movie was over as they kept singing songs from the movie. It was so fun, and I wish you could’ve been there._

Buffy finished up her letter and her stomach growled. Time to eat.

A few hours later, Sirius and Remus went to join Harry at the game. That left the girls to enjoy their outing with Severus.

Severus linked both arms with them and off to London they went. He wasn’t always comfortable with the outings his daughter chose—as last night proved. However, he loved seeing her joy, so he wasn’t nearly as disgruntled as he pretended to be. Watching her face more than the movie the night before brought him intense happiness. How many moments like this had he missed? Of course, he knew there hadn’t been much joy the past two years for her as she’d only spent time in battle. He would take any bit of her that he could it. He might not survive the war with the Dark Lord, and he needed to store up as much memories as they could because she would live. Somehow, he knew that she was meant to go on for years and rattle the wizardry world, forcing change onto everyone she met. Already, she and her friends were challenging Potter and his friends. The Gryffindor group thought they were so superior, but they had their prejudices. Buffy Anne, though, would tolerate none from anyone. She was already forcing them to confront their own intolerances—much to Severus’ amusement.

“I want us to go to Buckingham Palace,” Cordelia said.

“Oh, yes!” Buffy said. “Then Piccadilly Circus.”

“That area contains a lot of shopping places, Buff. We should go there after lunch as Narcissa will join us.”

“Okay, so the London Eye then,” Buffy said.

Cordelia nodded. “That works,” she said. “Then we can go to lunch afterward.”

With their day planned, they began their day of fun.

_******Quidditch World Cup*****_

Harry was walking around the camp, looking at all the international people who had come out to see the championship game. The insanely enchanted tents and the various people groups—it was a lot to take in.

“So what do you think, Harry?” Sirius asked.

“It’s amazing,” Harry said.

“Harry, come on,” Ron gestured. “We have seats at the Top Box.”

Remus hesitated. “No, I don’t think I should go up there,” he said. He knew the kind of people who had seats up there. His tainted blood would not be welcome.

“You have every right to be there,” Harry said.

“I know, Harry, but I don’t want to spoil the festivities,” Remus said. “You go. I’ll see you at half-time.”

“I’ll stay with Remus,” Sirius said. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Harry assured him, not wanting him to feel guilty.

He and Harry went to the Top Box and saw that it was already occupied by the Malfoys—Lucius and Draco.

Draco eyed the two with resignation. As they had befriended his cousin and Buffy, he knew that he could no longer go out of his way to antagonize the pair, so he said nothing.

“Great. The Malfoys,” Ron muttered.

“Be cool,” Harry said. “That’s Cordelia’s cousin, and she would be pissed to know we picked a fight.”

The trio eyed each other warily.

“Potter,” Draco said.

“Malfoy,” Harry said back. They took their seats, and the game began.

“The twins made a bet on the game,” Ron shared. “They bet some guy that Ireland would win but Viktor would catch the snitch.”

Malfoy snorted. “That’s an idiot’s bet,” he said with derision.

“We’ll see,” Ron said with a smirk.

As the game progressed, the Irish pulled way ahead, and then the game ended with Krum _did_ catch the snitch.

“Ha!” Ron said, flashing Malfoy a smug smile. “Let’s go find them and see what they won.”

They were celebrating their largesse with Xander. Ron was surprised to see his brother Percy with him, speaking with Willow.

“I can’t believe you won your bet!” Ron said.

“Yes, we now have enough money to open our shop. Mother will have to see how great our business plan is now,” Fred said.

“You know Mother won’t like it as you’re not of age,” Percy warned.

“We know,” George said. “Xander has figured out an angle to use with her that I think will work.”

“The money from Bagman really puts our nest egg over the top!” Fred said happily.

“Well, here comes Mum and Dad now,” Ginny said. 

“Do you want us to leave?” Hermione asked.

“No, we need all the protection we can get,” George said.

“Shouldn’t you wait until you’re home to speak to them?” Xander suggested. The twins had meant to speak to their parents a few weekends earlier but chickened out due to their mother’s foul mood that weekend.

The twins both shook their heads. “No way. There’s too many witnesses here for them to kill us,” Fred said.

“And they’re in a good mood,” George added. He greeted his parents warmly.

“What a fine match!” Arthur said with a grin.

“It was the best!” Ron said.

“Did you know that Bagman bet us a ton of money, and he lost?” George asked.

“We bet that Ireland would win but Krum would catch the snitch,” Fred said with a proud grin.

“He didn’t think that was probable at all,” George said.

“That’s great boys,” Arthur said.

“Betting? Gambling?” Molly said, frowning. “That is not a good past time. It leads to ruin.”

“Don’t worry, Mum,” Fred said quickly. “It was just a one-time thing—to show that know-it-all that the Weasleys know quidditch better than he does!”

“The man is often a pompous ass,” Arthur acknowledged. “He thinks as head of Magical Games and Sports he is so much more important than the rest of us who work for the Ministry.”

“You know, Dad, Mum, we now have enough money to begin launching our joke shop,” George ventured.

“We want to call it Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes,” Fred said proudly. “Xander’s going to be our business manager as Willow is helping design a website to sell some of our more harmless muggle-like objects.”

“We want to rent a shop and open it on the weekends,” George said. “Willow says the online sales will off-set not being open full-time.”

“That way by the time we are done for the school year, we will have a client base to open full-time in the summer,” Fred said.

“But what about school?” Molly asked, frowning.

“Oh, they’ll be at school,” Xander said. “They won’t abandon me even if I don’t get sorted into their house, right?”

“Of course not,” Fred said.

“There’s no chance you’ll be a snake,” George added.

Willow frowned in disapproval. “That’s possibly Buffy or Cordy’s house, you know. Or even mine. I’m ambitious!” she told them. “And cunning. I’m very cunning. So is Xander.”

George looked at his twin, nonplussed. Fred looked at Percy, who was surprised at the clear beseeching look.

“I’m sure whatever house you get sorted in won’t change who you are,” Percy assured them. When Willow gave him a beaming smile, he felt a warm glow. His siblings smiled at him—a rare occurrence.

“We won’t work full-time except when school isn’t in session,” Fred said.

“That is okay, right, Mum?” George said, giving him mother a beseeching look.

Molly looked at her husband, who gave the twins an approving smile. “Well, I think that’s a capital plan, boys. You will have time to make sure you are very happy with your chosen career,” Arthur said, looking at his wife.

“I had hoped you boys would find a more respectable career like your brothers,” she said.

“What’s more respectable than bringing joy to people?” Xander asked. “In America, there are some very rich people called comedians, who actually get paid tons of money just to make people laugh.”

“Really?” Molly said.

“There’s some in the UK, too,” Hermione asked.

“It must be a muggle thing,” Arthur said.

“Magical people like to laugh, too,” Willow added. 

“I think more laughter would chase away some of the fear and gloom certain people have brought to our world,” Ginny said, thinking of her own traumatic experiences.

“So what do you think?” Fred asked, looking at his mother.

“As long as you don’t neglect your studies, I suppose it’s okay,” she said reluctantly.

The boys cheered and hugged her. “Don’t worry, Mum. We’ll pick a nice shop that you can help us decorate,” George said.

“Do you have enough funds to only be opened on the weekends?” Molly asked.

“We do,” Fred said with a grin. 

“We made some money last terms selling to some classmates,” George said.

“And the winnings from Bagman gives us plenty to secure a few months’ rent,” Fred said.

“Then they’ll be making money when the shop opens,” Xander added.

“Don’t you mean _we_ will be making money?” George reminded him. 

“Yes, you’re going to be a junior partner after all,” Fred said, throwing his arm around his shoulders.

Xander smiled, happy to have found the twins. Buffy and Willow were the best, but sometimes a guy needs other guys.

They had tons of fun seeing various magical feats and celebrating Ireland’s win. There was even an impromptu quidditch match from several of the fans. All the Weasleys but Percy joined along with Xander and Malfoy. Xander somehow ended up on Draco’s team.

“So you are from America like my cousin and godcousin?” Draco asked. He was unsure how an obvious friend of the Weasleys would treat him, but he decided to make an attempt. His father had instructed him to draw the girls close, and he wanted to know the girls. They had been so genuine with him, and Buffy was so bold.

“Yep. California to be precise,” Xander said. “I’m Xander Harris. You’re Draco, right? Is it okay if I call you Drake? My name is Alexander, but I prefer Xander.”

“My mother sometimes calls me Drake,” Draco said. 

“If you were in America, no one would call you Draco,” Xander said with a grin. “We like to keep things simple.”

“How then did Buffy get her name?” Draco asked with a smirk.

Xander laughed. “That’s because Southern Californian mothers are free-spirits,” he said. “After all, Willow was named after a tree!”

Draco chuckled. “So are you okay playing against the Weasleys?” he asked.

“Sure,” he said. “I’ve played against them at Hogwarts. I had Buffy and Cordy on my team, though. Buffy’s a hell of a seeker, and Cordy is a great beater.”

“Really?” Draco asked in surprise.

“Yep,” Xander said. “Let’s teach the Weasleys some humility.”

Draco grinned, enjoying the guy even if he was close to the twins. The twins were diabolical enough to be in the Slytherin house—no matter what they thought. However, they were selfless and too fearless for their own good.

They let Ginny play and discovered she had a natural talent for it. The twins were excited and encouraged her to score the first point.

Xander met a few more of the Weasley’s housemates plus Cedric, who was in Hufflepuff. He was an excellent player and luckily was on Xander’s team.

The game was evenly matched until Draco managed to catch the snitch.

“Yes!” Xander said, flashing a smug look at his friends.

“Great. Beat by Malfoy,” Ron muttered in disgust.

“Nope, beat by _me_!” Xander bragged, puffing out his chest.

“Good thing we didn’t wager,” Fred said.

“I promised Mum no more betting,” George said.

“Winner buys everyone ice-cream!” Harry said, flashing Draco a look—daring him to say no.

“I can do that,” Draco said with a shrug. He was so shocked at the near friendliness from Potter and the Weasleys. Was this the Americans influence? It was very strange.

Willow came up to Draco and Xander as they stood in line for ice-cream. “Hi,” she said.

“Drake, this is my best friend since kindergarten—Willow Rosenberg,” Xander introduced. “Will, this is Cordelia’s cousin, Draco.”

“Nice to meet you,” Willow said, giving him a shy smile. She was anxious as she had heard how mean he was.

“Are you related to the Weasleys?” Draco asked, looking at all that red hair.

“Oh, no,” she said. “I just have the same color of hair.”

“Just like all blondes aren’t related,” Xander said, “so aren’t all redheads.”

“Just asking,” Draco said coolly. “There are so many of them.” They were the largest pure-bred family that he personally knew, and yet none of them cared about any of that. It’s why they were so poor—too many mouths to feed. Of course, he’d never admit this to anyone, but he was always a bit envious of Ron for having so many brothers. Being an only child was lonely. Living up to his father’s expectations was a lot for one person.

They all settled into their tents for the night when the attack happened.

Xander jumped up when he heard the screaming. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Bill and Charlie went outside, and then their dad came into the tent. “There’s an attack. You kids go hide in the woods, and we’ll go help,” Arthur said.

“We can fight, too, Dad,” Ron protested.

“No, go. Take your sister and the girls and hide,” he said.

Percy joined him while the twins led the rest of them to the edge of the woods. “What do you think is happening?” Willow asked.

“I bet it’s those lousy Death Eaters,” Ron said.

“I can’t believe we’re cowering in the woods and not fighting,” Xander complained. “Buffy would totally be fighting.”

“Yes, well, that’s what she does,” Willow said. “It’s also why she’s not here. Giles was worried something like this would happen.”

“What does that mean?” Hermione asked. There was something about Buffy that they weren’t telling, and it was driving her nuts.

“She is a trained fighter,” Willow said quickly. “She tends to rush into a fight without hesitation.”

“Professor Severus doesn’t want her fighting,” Xander said. 

“Where’s my wand?” Harry wondered. He checked his robe. “It’s gone!”

“How did you lose your wand?” George asked.

“You have that nifty pocket inside your robe,” Willow said. She pulled hers out. “It’s very handy.”

“I know, Willow. That’s where it was!” Harry said, upset.

They hear someone nearby incant " _Morsmordre,_ " and they watched the Dark Mark float into the sky.

“What the hell is that?” Xander asked, freaked out as the strange symbol appeared in the sky.

“It’s the Dark Mark,” Ron said grimly.

“It means that those attackers wearing the masks are Death Eaters,” Hermione explained.

“Probably, your new pal Draco’s daddy out there terrorizing the muggles,” Fred said.

“What?” Xander said.

“Stop saying muggle,” Willow said, giving him a sour look.

“I don’t mean anything by it. It’s what we call non-magical people,” Fred said.

“You look down on people who don’t do magic, and the word muggle is meant to convey that they are less-than,” Willow said crossly.

“Now’s not a time to get into a debate,” Harry said. “Someone took my wand.”

“Let’s go find Mum and Dad,” George said. 

“We’ll retrace your steps,” Ron said. “It’s bound to turn up somewhere.”

As they walked out of the woods, Xander said, “So were you guys serious about Draco’s dad being out there terrorizing people?”

“We were,” Ron said. “It’s a known fact that he was a Death Eater. He claimed he was under the Imperius curse, but we know that’s not true.”

“Didn’t Buffy tell you about the dinner?” Harry asked.

Xander shrugged. “Well, you know how girls are. They talk a lot. Sometimes, I listen better than others,” he said, giving Willow a sheepish smile.

“That’s so not true!” Hermione said. 

“It is,” Ron and Harry said at the same time.

“My mother can out talk and out-lecture my dad any day of the week!” Fred said with a grin.

“If Draco’s dad was out there, wearing some creepy mask, that’s gotta be sucky for him,” Xander said.

“Why would you say that?” Hermione said. “He hates anyone that doesn’t believe in that pureblood nonsense. He’s said some really mean things to me—calling me a mudblood.”

“That’s ‘cause you are one,” Draco said, stepping out of from behind a tree. 

Ron pulled out his wand. “Say it again and see what happens!” he yelled angrily.

“It’s just a word, Weasley. Not sure why you get so worked up about it,” Draco said.

“Words matter,” Willow said, frowning at him. 

“Don’t go saying things like that around Cordy or Buffy,” Xander advised. “You might find yourself knocked on your ass.”

Draco looked unsure as they walked away. His cousin was a pureblood like him or close enough to being one. Would she really get that angry?

***** _Piccadilly Circus*****_

Buffy grinned up at her father, who had his arm filled with bags. He’d shrunk everything he could, and still Cordy get buying things. Knowing she was even richer than she’d been back home had her go to a whole new level of shopping. They’d had an amazing time visiting the palace. It was incredible as even her father had been impressed. Then they’d went to the London Eye, which was this giant Ferris wheel that allowed them to see so much. Severus rode it first with Buffy and then with Cordelia. He loved having time one-on-one with both of his girls, and they liked not sharing him even if it was just for a short time. Cordelia snapped many pictures of them on it and of the view.

Soon, it had been time to meet Narcissa for lunch. She was dressed elegantly, and Cordelia knew they’d been taken seriously in the all the shops.

Narcissa was friendly with the girls, enjoying their enthusiasm as they shared their day with her while they ate. Severus looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him.

“Do you have enough energy to handle shopping with the girls?” she asked him as they finished lunch and were walking out of the restaurant.

Since they’d dragged out lunch for an hour, he felt pretty well rested. Of course, he had a potion to aid him if his energy flagged too much. However, he would never tell his highly energetic daughter he might need chemicals and magic to keep up for her.

After two hours of shopping, though, he was ready to call it a day. “Surely, you have enough things?” he said to the girls once he could no longer shrink anymore packages discreetly.

“We can never have enough things,” Cordelia said with a smirk. “It’s not our fault, wizards and that magical alley doesn’t have normal stuff. I’m not wearing those unflattering robes all the time. I don’t care what anyone says.”

Narcissa laughed. Her niece was so different and yet familiar too. The American influence was so strong in her, and Narcissa doubted that either girl would ever mindlessly follow Lucius’ lead. She frowned, worried about how her independent nature might lead her to danger.

As the two girls walked a step ahead of them, she spoke in a low voice to Severus. “How do you plan on keeping these girls safe and out of the dark business you and my husband are involved in?” she asked.

Severus hesitated before replying. Would her blood loyalty to Cordelia be stronger than her loyalty to her husband? Surely, she knew how dangerous the future was for Draco if he was encouraged to follow in his father’s footsteps. 

“They are very capable girls, especially Buffy Anne. You won’t find them easy marks as their former home on the hellmouth has prepared them in ways no one in the wizardry world could fathom—not even your husband,” he said.

“So you don’t plan on encouraging them to take the mark?” she asked.

“Buffy Anne would never follow anyone she deemed a threat to humanity,” he admitted. “It would not be a good idea, however, for you to share that information with your husband. As you’ve witnessed, Buffy Anne is impetuous.”

Narcissa nodded. The dinner had been most informative as the teenager’s boldness and lack of fear of her husband had been surprising. “I would not ever endanger the children,” she said. She longed to ask him to help keep Draco safe, but he was a Death Eater. She dared not risk it.

“Nor would I,” he said, hoping she could read his resolve. He would not allow his girls or Draco to be a pawn for the Dark Lord.

***** _Hogwarts*****_

When they made it back to Hogwarts, Severus hugged the girls and went straight to his chambers to take a much needed nap.

The girls, though, were energized and excited to share their day with their friends. However, their fun day story was eclipsed by the news from the others.

“Death Eaters attacked muggles and others late last night!” Ron exclaimed as soon as he saw the girls.

“What?” Buffy asked.

It took a few minutes to hear the tale as their friends kept interrupting each other to add a detail.

The theft of Harry’s wand, though, was the most perplexing.

“Why would a house elf steal your wand and put up the Death Mark?” Buffy asked.

“Of course, Winky didn’t do such a thing!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Yea, she was an obvious fall guy,” Xander added. 

“The poor thing was terrified,” Willow said. 

“But she was there in the box when we were watching the game,” Ron said. “She did have the opportunity to take his wand.”

“She might’ve taken the wand, but she wouldn’t have done a spell and put up a mark,” George said.

“Someone could’ve put her up to taking Harry’s wand,” Fred added.

“I agree,” Ron said. “She might’ve done that part, but she’d be too scared to do more.”

“I don’t really think she even took it,” Harry said. “I think she was sent up there to be framed for it. House Elves might do errands that are questionable, but they would never violate another witch or wizard. Stealing from me would do that.”

“That’s a good point,” Hermione said.

Buffy put her packages into her room and went to find Giles. He opened his bedroom door when she knocked, smiling at her.

“Did you have fun?” he asked.

“So much!” Buffy said happily as she stepped into his room. “I’ll tell you all about it later. The guys just told me there was an attack at the game. Did you see the Death Eaters?”

“I was with Sirius and Remus most of the time when I wasn’t wandering around checking out the sights.” he said. “We had just settled in for the night when the attack began. The men were wearing masks, which I’ve been told is the sign of the Death Eaters.”

“So what do you think this means? Dark Lord rising or just pandering to the fear his symbol brings?” Buffy asked.

“They definitely are working to instill fear,” Giles said. “They got these people even afraid to say Voldemort’s name like he’s omnipotent or omniscient.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Yea, it’s pretty pathetic,” she agreed. “What’s the plan?”

“Until he reveals himself, there’s not much we can do,” Giles said. “He has no solid form, so we can’t actually fight him.”

“We can kick his followers’ asses, though,” Buffy pointed out.

“We cannot risk your father until we know Voldemort’s endgame, Buffy,” Giles said. “We have to be strategic about this.”

Buffy pouted. “I hate being strategy gal. I want to be slay-gal,” she said.

“These are humans, Buffy. You can’t just kill them unless they are trying to kill you,” Giles said. “The leadership in the ministry is so inept they’d probably arrest you unless there is a clear and present danger they can’t deny. Right now, they won’t even admit he’s risen.”

Buffy nodded. “Fine,” she said grudgingly.

A house elf popped into the room. “Headmaster wants me to give you this,” the elf said, handing Giles a note.

The elf disappeared, and Giles read the note.

“What’s up?” Buffy asked.

“It seems as if the Order of Phoenix is requesting our presence tomorrow night,” he shared.

“Mine?” she asked.

Giles nodded. “We have to let the Order know what you are, so they will allow you to be a part of their plans,” he said. “Molly Weasley wants to treat you like one of her children.”

“I am not a child, and neither are they,” Buffy said. “If they Death Eaters attack random folk in public, no one is completely safe.”

“Very true,” he said. “We need to first get them to allow you to be involved. Then we will work on the rest.”

“I guess it was a good thing you and Father kept me away from the game, huh?” Buffy said with a smirk.

“Yes,” Giles said. “Our instincts were correct.”

“They are so bold,” Buffy said. 

“You need to learn as much magic that you can, Buffy, so you can counter their spells,” Giles said. “They can immobilize you before you can get to them for a physical alteration.”

“True,” she admitted. He was right. She needed to learn all that she could, so she could kick Death Eater ass and slay that would-be Dark Lord. “Would it be better if we aided him in getting his body back? Then we can kill him for good.”

“That’s not a move to make lightly,” Giles said. “We need much more information.”

“I should play spy like Father—double agent Buffy,” she said with a grin.

“That would not at all suit your temperament, and you know it,” he said. “Cordelia possibly. We have to see where the house sorting plays out.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “They put way too much stock in that stupid talking hat!” she complained.

“They do,” he agreed. “However, you cannot dismiss how important it is. They judge people based on those results.”

“Wouldn’t I do better in Father’s house? They’d be more apt to trust me,” she pointed out.

“Possibly,” he said. He just knew the balance was delicate, and Buffy had no patience for fools or tolerance for evil. It went against everything a slayer stood for, and she would not be able to control her very real response when faced with the evil of Voldemort and his followers.

“We must be patient,” he advised. “We will go to the Order meeting and get you to be taken seriously. That’s our first step.”

“What if they refuse to accept me?” she asked.

“We won’t give them a choice,” he said grimly.

They needed a slayer even if they didn’t realize it.

***** _Chapter End*****_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many readers had great ideas for movies from 1994-1996, but when I saw The Lion King on a list, I just knew that’d be the one. I also figured that whatever year you think it is (it matters not to me as it’s a crossover world and trying to make years match confuses me), a cinematic gem like that would surely be played somewhere. The movie theatre in this chapter is a real movie theatre. In fact, it’s Scotland's original independent cinema and the home of film in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s been around for forty years, and it felt like a perfect fit.


	19. The Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I found contradictory lists of who exactly were members of the Order. I wasn’t sure about McGonagall’s membership this early in the series, but it made sense

***** _Several Days Later*****_

Buffy sat at her first official Order of the Phoenix meeting and looked at the assembled group. Tonks looked super fun and interesting. She knew Sirius, Remus, and the Weasleys. Mr. Moody and Mr. Shacklebolt were grim and unsmiling. They looked at Buffy in disapproval. Arabella Figg didn’t seem too concerned at her presence, and neither did Fletcher. Of course, Fletcher didn’t seem to care about anyone’s presence and treated everyone with a sniff of disapproval. Hagrid was the opposite and gave her a friendly welcoming smile as did Mr. Weasley. Unfortunately, it was clear that Mrs. Weasley did not like her presence at the meeting. Headmaster Dumbledore kept his normal serene expression on his face. Buffy had been surprised to find his second in command Professor McGonagall at the meeting, but she seemed unsurprised or bothered by Buffy’s presence. Buffy wondered what she knew.

The presence of Bill and Charlie Weasley had been a surprise to Buffy. It was her first time to meet the two brothers, and she couldn’t help but notice how different they both were from the other boys, especially the twins. Both were very serious, but Charlie seemed to have a twinkle in his eyes that she appreciated. Bill gave her a curious look but did not seem upset at her presence. The adult children of the Weasleys rarely went to the meetings, but since they were in town for the week after the match, their parents wanted them to know what the Order was about. She also speculated that their parents decided to bring them in since Buffy was present.

“Welcome, Professor Giles,” Dumbledore said, starting the meeting. “We are glad you all could join us, and your charge, Severus’ daughter, Buffy Summers.”

“I must insist, Albus, that you explain why we are allowing an underage witch at this meeting,” Molly said. “I do not want my underage children involved with our business.”

“I don’t see any of them here,” Albus said simply.

“You know they live in each other’s pockets,” Molly said. “She is friends with them.”

“So you’re saying I can’t keep a secret?” Buffy asked, offended. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Weasley, but you really don’t know a single thing about me.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Giles said. He looked at Severus. “Do you want to speak or do I?”

“You may,” Severus said.

“Buffy is not simply a witch, Mrs. Weasley, but she is a vampire slayer, who has spent the past year guarding the hellmouth,” he said. “She even died fighting a Master Vampire and was brought back to life by her friend Alexander Harris. She knows about secrets and dual identities and fighting battles except she was doing it nightly while attending an American high school and keeping it from her parents.”

The group looked at her with various expressions. Hagrid and Charlie looked excited while Tonks was confused.

“What’s a vampire slayer?” Tonks asked.

“She is the one girl in all the world empowered to fight demons, vampires, and the forces of evil,” he explained. “She is given advanced healing capabilities, fighting skills, and the ability to sense evil and use any weapon—she’s a weapon herself.”

Molly was stunned. “But she’s so small!” she remarked.

“Yes, I know,” Buffy sighed. “But I could still lift Hagrid.” She stood up and motioned for him to do the same. The group gaped in astonishment when she did as she claimed.

“I have always wanted to meet a vampire slayer. More than one person tried to tell me your kind was just a myth,” Hagrid said. “I knew, though, you weren’t because too many magical creatures held you in awe.”

Buffy smiled up at the giant teddy bear of a man. “Well, we don’t tend to live too long. I was dead within a year,” she said casually.

Severus looked pained at her matter-of-fact mention of her death. 

“So she has left the hellmouth unguarded?” Shacklebolt asked in disapproval.

“Her temporary death activated another slayer,” Giles said. “It’s the first time such a thing as happened in recorded Watcher history.”

“You’re a Watcher!” Sirius exclaimed in surprise. Now he understood why the bloke was so devoted to her.

“Yes, I am her Watcher,” he said.

“The Council of Watchers has had no contact with the wizardry world in over two centuries,” Professor McGonagall remarked.

“You know the Council?” he asked.

“One of my ancestors was a member,” she remarked.

“You never mentioned that,” Giles said.

“We have not had much opportunity to discuss things,” she said. The children were always present it seemed whenever the two were in proximity.

“Back to the point at hand,” Albus said. “Buffy Anne is not simply an underaged witch, Molly. She has instincts and gifts that no one else has.”

“That’s why you’ve been outside after dark,” Hagrid realized. “You were hunting in the forest?”

Buffy nodded, grinning. “Yep. If I don’t slay something every few days, I get antsy. Too much energy—plus there’s loads of dark creatures in that forest that give me the wiggins,’ she said.

When Giles saw a few confused looks, he smiled and explained, “She is highly sensitive to evil.”

Molly was still frowning, but now she was glancing at Severus with clear disapproval. “How can you let your daughter fight monsters? An untrained witch at that!” she said.

Before Severus could open his mouth, his daughter stood up, glaring at Molly. “Hey, lady, I know you’re trying to be all protective of the little girl here, but I don’t fight baddies with magic. I just use my fists and my feet—along with a sword or wooden stake,” she said. “My father didn’t even know me when I was called, so I don’t think you have any right to judge him. My mother only recently found out, and she was very pissed. But there is nothing she or anyone else can do about it. I’m the slayer. That’s who I am. That’s my life. I don’t get to be just a girl anymore that worries about boys or clothes. Instead, I get to worry about whatever big bad is trying to destroy the world. I get expelled from school, ostracized, and gossiped about because literally overnight I went from this popular, fun-loving, and shallow girl to one who knows exactly how fragile the world is. I saw the face evil and fought it nightly. I’ve defeated two Master vampires in less than two years, and I’m sure I’ll be putting Mr. Voldy pants in the ground one day or die trying. So my age or lack of height is irrelevant. Your kids won’t be finding out anything from me until the secret can’t be kept any longer.”

The adults at the table had various reactions to her speech. A few looked away, unable to handle the truth of her words. The Weasley men looked upset and angry on her behalf while Molly’s eyes filled with tears. 

“You poor dear!” she exclaimed, moving to embrace Buffy. 

Since Buffy missed her own mother dreadfully, she hugged her back. She appreciated how Molly was passionate and fierce about everything—her mom could be like that when roused.

Severus finally spoke. “Obviously, I am unhappy with my daughter’s fate, but having her at Hogwarts is decidedly safer than the hellmouth,” he said dryly.

“That’s true,” Giles added. “The new slayer and her watcher are currently guarding the hellmouth with the help of Angel, a vampire with a soul.”

“You do not want anyone to know what she is?” Hagrid asked. “I’d be proud to have a daughter that was such a magnificent creature.”

Buffy flashed the man a beaming smile. “You’re such a sweetheart, Hagrid!” she gushed. “You’d make a great dad.”

Severus gave her look of annoyance. “Unfortunately, not everyone would feel that way,” he said. “You know how the wizardry community is.”

“A bunch of bigots most of them,” Buffy said sourly. “The way they are with werewolves is horrible!”

“It’s hard to believe that she is Severus’ daughter,” Molly whispered to her husband, who grinned and nodded.

Buffy, of course, heard them and gave them a dark look. 

“She heard me,” Molly whispered, her eyes widened.

“Heightened senses,” Buffy told her. “I have to hunt creatures in the dark, so being able to hear them coming is an advantage.”

“What are we going to do about the Death Eaters?” Giles asked, wanting to change the subject. “They attacked a public gathering.”

“What can we do? We don’t know who they are,” Molly remarked.

“The Aurors are investigating,” Tonks said.

“Too many like Lucius hide behind the lie of the Imperius curse,” Remus pointed out.

“You guys have spells to pull memories, so I don’t see how anyone can get away with lying,” Buffy pointed out.

“That’s true,” Molly admitted. “Politics are getting in the way of good sense.”

“The tattoos are on the arm, right?” Buffy asked. Her dad nodded. “Why can’t there be a law passed for mandatory arm checking or something?”

“You’d think that’d be standard for anyone working at the Ministry,” Giles agreed.

“I wish that were so,” Arthur said.

“In America, when people want something done, they write their legislature and let their voices be heard,” Buffy said. “Why can’t you all do that? Talk to your like-minded friends. Get them to put some pressure on your minister.”

“That can’t hurt,” Professor McGonagall said.

“I agree,” Albus said. “I will also speak to the Wizengamot.”

“The wise what?” Buffy asked.

Albus smiled at her. “The Wizengamot is our court of high law and council. I am its Chief Wizard,” he said.

“A fact that Minister Fudge hates,” Molly said.

“Why is that?” Buffy asked.

“He is jealous of the Headmaster’s influence,” she explained.

Buffy nodded. “Okay, so we have to start getting proactive on the political front and not let this Fudge guy ignore possible Death Eaters just because they’re from a family with money and connections,” she said.

“If the man can’t be influenced to behave reasonably, then you need to begin planning to have him removed,” Giles said. “If he is going to hinder the fight, he could do much to hurt everything we try to do.”

The group looked a bit shocked at his words, but a few nodded. They knew he had a good point.

Sirius appreciated their plans to be proactive as most of the wizards he knew would just let things be. When he thought of his time in jail without a trial, he became really bitter. Not even Albus tried to help him.

They talked several more minutes before the group broke up. Buffy, Severus, Giles, Sirius, and Remus all left together.

“So anyone up for some ice-cream?” Buffy asked brightly.

“I love ice-cream!” Sirius said with a happy grin. He offered his elbow to Buffy, and she looped her arm through his.

“There’s a great place two blocks over,” Remus suggested.

Giles and Severus stayed a few steps behind the trio.

“That went better than I had expected,” Giles said to Severus.

Severus nodded. “She is remarkable, and they can’t help but see it,” he said. 

“Yes, she is,” Giles said. “I think not having the burden of the hellmouth has freed her, allowing her to focus on more than just survival.”

“I worry about her need to take action, though,” Severus admitted.

Giles nodded. “Yes, she has never had to hold back from fighting or confronting what is threatening others,” he said. “But I believe she can learn to be strategic and patient.”

“Well, you two already got them thinking about ways they could start putting pressure on the Ministry,” Severus said. “I don’t think they would’ve come around to that. It’s not really the way things are done.”

“I’ve spent too much time in America,” Giles said with a smile. “They aren’t known for setting back and taking anything.”

Severus nodded. “True,” he said. They walked another minute in silence. 

“Joyce will be here next weekend,” Severus said. 

“That will make Buffy very happy,” Giles said. Then he gave Severus a sly look. “And possibly you too.”

Severus frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“You and she had a child together. It would not be strange to find that there’s still a connection between the two of you,” Giles said. “One that might be nurtured into something real.”

Severus was surprised by his words as he refused to think about such a wonderous event. It was enough that he had his daughter. He deserved nothing more. “I dare not risk a relationship with a female. Buffy Anne is in enough danger with the role I play,” he said.

“Buffy is quite capable of protecting her mother,” Giles said. “Not to mention, Joyce will be here at the school. The place is quite safe.”

Severus didn’t want to tear away his delusions. If the man hadn’t heard about the dangers the students had faced at the school the past few years, he wasn’t about to tell him.

_****Chapter End*****_

_I_ _f you haven't given this story a kudos yet, only one chapter left, so take a minute and kudo me! :)_


	20. The Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this story, but it's not the end of the tale. 
> 
> Yes, I am aware the sorting song isn't correct. I just didn't make time to find the right one for that year.

***** _The Next Weekend*****_

Buffy was so excited because her mother was arriving that afternoon on a plane. She was taking a taxicab to meet her. It was decided that she would come without her entourage of friends, but her father was accompanying her.

Joyce looked tired but happy to be reunited with her daughter and gave her a long hug.

“It’s so good to see you, sweetie,” she said

“You, too,” Buffy said. She filled her mother’s ears with chatter.

“It’s good to see you, Joyce,” Severus said after Buffy paused for breath.

“Thanks,” Joyce said. “I’m glad you two have had such a good time.”

“Wait until you see what I can do with my magic stick,” Buffy boasted. “I thought wood was only good for staking vamps, but now I’ve got this handy magic stick!”

“It’s a wand, Buffy Anne. You would do well to remember that,” Severus said with a slight irritation in his tone.

Buffy just grinned. “He really reveres his stick,” she said to her mom with a wink.

“It’s not a stick! It’s a wand!” he exclaimed in exasperation. Then he looked up at the cab driver in alarm.

Buffy laughed. “Told you,” she said.

Joyce chuckled. “I see that she is still incorrigible,” she observed.

“Very much so,” Severus said, realizing she was purposely baiting him. “But she has been a good girl over all.” He reached over and patted her arm. She was sitting in between her mother and him. They had decided her mother would be exposed to enough magic soon enough. A normal cab ride was not too much to ask for.

Joyce was settled into a room not far from Giles. She wanted to wait to decide to find a house outside of Hogwarts as this was all so new. If she survived the year and liked it, maybe she’d look for something more permanent.

Buffy thought her mother held up pretty well when they arrived at Hogwarts, and she saw her first ghost.

“Buffy, please tell me that you see that man with the severed head floating over there,” she said, clutching Buffy’s arm in a near panic.

“Oh, sorry, Mom. I forgot to tell you that the place has lots of ghosts. They’re mostly harmless,” Buffy assured her. “That’s Nearly Headless Nick. Nick, this is my mom, Joyce. Be nice.”

“Of course, Buffy,” Nick said with a bright smile. “I’ll tell the other ghost to lay off the haunting for a few weeks.”

“Thanks,” Joyce said with a weak smile.

“The place takes some getting used to,” Buffy said.

“I can see that,” Joyce said.

“But at least the ghosts are harmless, and there’s no hellmouth or vamps,” Buffy said with a bright smile.

“It’s disturbing how comforting those words are,” Joyce said, putting her arm around Buffy.

After a week or so, Joyce finally felt comfortable. It helped that they celebrated the Fourth of July even though it was the holiday where the Brits lost control of the colonist.

“I can’t believe we’re celebrating a holiday that thumbs its nose at our country,” Ron grumbled as he helped Harry dig out an old grill that Hagrid said he had in the shed behind his house.

“It makes our new American friends happy,” Harry said. “It’s just a cook-out and fireworks, Ron. Not a big deal.”

Ron was still grumbling as they spelled the grille to follow them to the pond where the outdoor festivities were going to take place.

Xander and Buffy were in charge of games. They had the potato sack race, the three-legged race, and an egg toss planned.

Buffy was giddy with excitement as the weight of slaying the past two years hadn’t allowed her to really enjoy any holidays all that much. Now she got to be carefree—like a normal kid. Well, as normal as a vampire slayer-witch could ever be.

All the professors who were on campus were joining them as was the Weasleys. Hermione’s parents came and got to meet Joyce. Joyce was relieved to meet a couple that was normal just like her. 

Hermione was equally relieved that her parents found someone to talk to.

Giles was facilitating the races. “It’s time for the three-legged race,” he called out.

The twins partnered. Xander was with Willow while Cordy and Buffy partnered up. Ron and Harry were tied together. As Sirius and Remus where there to enjoy the festivities, Sirius talked his buddy into joining in.

Percy, of course, refused to join, but he promised Willow that he would be cheering for her and Xander.

Although Buffy had the slayer physical advantage and Cordelia was athletic, they couldn’t compete with the twins, who were always completely in sync with one another.

“Yes!” George said, pumping his fist and high-fiving his brother after they passed the finish line first.

“No fair. You have the twin ESP thing going,” Xander grumbled. He and Willow actually did manage to beat Buffy and Cordelia, who began bickering as soon as the race started.

“Time for the potato sack races,” Giles said. Hagrid handed all of them their sacks.

“I totally own this one!” Xander declared.

“It’s a race, Xander. You know I’m totally going to win this one,” Buffy said with a smirk.

“’Cause you spent so much hopping around in potato sacks back in L.A.,” Xander said, scoffing.

Then the races were off. Willow fell over after two hops and knocked down Hermione, who fell into Ron. The onlookers couldn’t help but chuckle at the domino effect Harry just missed. A swift elbow from Cordelia to Buffy caught her by surprise, and the slayer fell sidewise.

The twins looked back and saw her on their heels and picked up their pace. Xander was in the lead, and unlike the twins, he knew not to look back. Sure enough, Cordelia overtook the twins by simply flashing a smile at them, distracting them easily.

Cordelia was a step behind Xander, who didn’t hesitate and hopped to the finish line. Of course, Cordelia didn’t pause when he stopped across the line, so she plowed into him, knocking hard into him.

“I can’t breathe!” Xander gasped.

Severus moved to help his niece up. “Thanks for the soft landing, loser,” Cordelia said with a smirk.

“Gee, Cordy, I didn’t know you played so dirty,” Buffy said, giving her a sour look.

“My daddy taught me that all’s fair in love, war, and Fourth of July games,” she said smugly.

Sirius laughed. “Well, I could hardly hop because I was too busy laughing at the lot of you,” he said.

Dumbledore was holding a large basket of eggs. “I believe these are needed for the next game,” he announced.

Willow went to Percy and asked him to partner with her, and he reluctantly agreed. When Buffy asked her mother to be her partner, Hermione got her dad to join in the competition. Ron and Harry were determined to beat these Americans as Giles went over the game.

“So we just toss this back and forth without breaking it?” Fred asked.

“That’s so easy,” George said. He picked up an egg and tossed it to Fred, who grabbed it too hard, causing it to bust in his hands.

“Not so easy,” Buffy said with a smirk as she carefully tossed hers to her mother.

Cordelia partnered with her uncle while Remus partnered with Xander.

Remus broke his on the first throw also, knocking them out of the egg toss.

Ron and Harry managed a few tosses and catches before Ron threw it a little too hard, and Harry grabbed it, crushing it into his hands.

“Ah, nuts!” Ron cried. He looked at his brothers, and only Percy was still in it.

“We lost, and my prat of a brother, Percy, is still going strong,” he muttered.

“That’s because he’s got an American partner. Willow probably been playing this game for years,” Harry said.

The egg tossed continued for several minutes, and then Cordelia threw her egg too gently, and Sirius dived to catch it. However, he missed, so they were out.

Now it was Buffy and Hermione with their perspective parents and Willow and Percy. Inevitably, Buffy tossed her egg a tad too hard, and Joyce missed the catch.

“Crap! Sorry, Mom!” Buffy said.

“Then there were two,” Xander said happily. “Come on, Will! You can’t let these Brits beat you.”

“I’m a Brit,” Percy reminded him.

“Yes, but Willow is not, so it doesn’t count,” Xander said with Xander-logic.

The two teams seemed evenly matched, and Buffy was getting bored.

“Come on, already!” she called out. “Someone break an egg!”

Her call distracted Hermione’s father, who looked up at her just as his daughter tossed the egg.

When it fell to the ground, Xander yelled, “Willow, you won!”

Willow’s eyes were wide. “We won?” she asked, the unbroken egg in her hand. She never won games or competitions that didn’t involve her intelligence.

Percy flashed her a smile. Winning in any game with his brothers was not something that he had ever experienced. “We did,” he said.

Xander grabbed Willow up in a hug, crushing the egg she held against her. “Xander!” she complained.

“Oops!” he said.

Everyone laughed. Sirius put his arm around his niece. “This is great fun,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve got to have good clean fun.”

Cordelia smiled. “Yes, it’s been great. I’m glad you could come,” she said. She did miss her parents, though.

Arthur was manning the grill with Albus and Hagrid and called out. “The burgers are done,” he said.

“And the dogs,” Albus added. “Although they are not made from dog meat.”

“Of course not!” Buffy exclaimed, horrified. “They’re made from all those leftover parts from cows and pigs—an occasional chicken.”

“They’re not kosher at all,” Willow said. “I can only eat them if Xander’s presence, so it’s his fault I’m a bad Jew.”

Joyce had helped Molly with all the fix-ins, much to the house-elves dismay.

Buffy and her friends had insisted on three different kinds of potato chips, baked beans, and potato salad. The elves insisted on making the baked beans and potato salad, offended that Cordelia and Buffy doubted their ability to reproduce the American dish.

After they ate and relaxed a bit, the twins and Xander started a crazy game of tag that got nearly everyone roped in—even Percy was tagged and made to chase after someone. He chose Hermione, who wasn’t very fast.

Of course, the game of tag somehow ended with Buffy shoving the twins into the lake. Cordelia enjoyed the splash and did the same to the laughing Xander when he had his back toward her.

Then it ended up being a dive into the pond by all of them as it was in the low eighties.

The adults enjoyed watching the kids frolic and play.

“It’s so nice to see them like this,” Arthur said to his wife. 

“Yes, it is,” Molly agreed. “Buffy Anne’s mother seems very nice and accepting for a muggle.”

“Very well-adjusted,” Arthur said. “But they were living on a hellmouth.”

“True,” Molly acknowledged. She had been watching Buffy since they arrived and was still puzzled. “I just cannot see that girl as a slayer of monsters.”

Giles overheard her remarks and stepped up. “Well, she is. In her first full year as slayer, she took out two master vampires and stopped the hellmouth from opening more than once,” he said. “She is resourceful and not to be underestimated.”

“Rupert, do you think I can have a moment?” Albus asked.

“Of course,” Giles said, moving away from all the activity to speak with Albus.

“I’ve been getting increasing pressure from the Ministry about filling our Defense Against the Dark Arts class,” Albus shared. “Although my proposal to check for the Mark on all Ministry employees is under review, there are some who want a hand in my school. Fudge will place one of his people here, especially when he finds out I’m behind the proposal to check for the Mark.”

“So you want me to see if someone in the Watcher’s Council would be willing to take it on as we previously discussed?” Giles asked.

“Yes,” Albus said. “If you don’t mind.”

“I will be happy to ask around,” he said.

“My thanks,” Albus said. “If need be, we could have you do it or be an assistant. We only need one wand wielder instructor in the place.”

“We have Watchers that are proficient in the use of magic. One of them might be able to use a wand. They would need to play catch up, however,” Giles said.

“If you could find someone by the end of the month, classes don’t start until the first of September,” Albus said. “It would give them time to learn how to use their wand.”

“I will do my best,” Giles said, his mind immediately occupied with possible choices.

Albus smiled, satisfied that the matter was taken care of. He did enjoy these Americans even though he knew that chaos and upheaval would follow them once the term began.

The fireworks display that Albus arranged for the kids was a huge hit. 

Buffy sat between her parents, leaning against her mother. “I love how it reflects on the water,” she said.

“Yes, it’s very nice,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re finally here, Mom.”

Joyce looked over at Severus, who gave her a warm smile. “Me, too,” she said. She had every meal with Severus, and it was really nice to have a man to talk to again. Of course, they had very little in common except for Buffy. Was that enough?

For Severus, the day was the most perfect day of his life, and he feared the coming semester and things becoming a lost less pleasant.

***** _A Month Later*****_

Today was an eventful day. Giles had received word that the Watcher’s Council was going to send them a DADA professor, who was very well qualified. He was also going to take Harry to the Devon coven. They were ready to remove the piece of Voldemort that was in Harry.

Harry didn’t sleep at all the night before. Giles had owled Sirius and gotten permission to take him to the coven to get his mark cleansed. Sirius was going to go with them, but no one else. He hadn’t even told his friends what was going to happen. It helped that none of them were really around to notice his absence.

Buffy and Cordelia both went back home to America for a few weeks before the term started. Willow’s parents were coming to Europe to see her and go on a few country tours with her—she was very excited. Xander was occupied with the twins, and Hermione and Ron went home since there was no tutoring going on. The Americans were all taking some books to study while they were away from Hogwarts. Of course, Xander was getting advanced tutoring in Transfiguring with the twins teaching so much during their joke creating sessions.

After breakfast, Sirius arrived. “Don’t worry, Harry. It’s going to be okay,” Sirius assured him before they apparated to Devon.

Giles greeted the ladies. “Now, Harry, this might be very uncomfortable for you because, Voldemort will fight this,” he explained. “It’s located on your forehead, so we don’t anticipate any side effects or damage to your brain.”

“That’s good,” Harry said weakly.

“Angus and Cecily will be the focus, Harry,” Giles told him, pointing out the two women. They had kind eyes, so Harry relaxed.

There was a circle drawn on the floor and candles everywhere. Several women were outside the circle.

“Sirius, as you have a strong magical core, we will need you to join hands with the women outside the circle. Angus will be channeling the magic,” Giles explained.

Cecily, a woman with dark brown hair in her late forties, was carrying a small bowl. “Harry, I’m going to dab some of this on to the spot we believe contains the dark piece of the evil wizard,” she said.

“Will it hurt?” Harry asked anxiously.

“It might burn,” she said. “It’s a cleansing that evil will shy away from.”

Harry nodded and braced himself. When she touched his forehead, it was cold. Then the women around him linked hands and began chanting in Latin. As he was a poor student in dead languages, he didn’t try to follow what they were saying. Then Giles linked hands around Harry with the two women, and they began chanting also. Angus’ voice, however, was louder than the others. Harry’s scar started to burn.

“It’s burning,” he said.

When he moved to touch it, Giles said, “No, Harry. No matter what, don’t touch it.”

Harry nodded and put down his hand.

“Harry, you need to close your eyes and focus and building an impenetrable wall inside your mind. One that is so big and strong, nothing can get through. The burning is someone trying to break through,” Angus said. “You must stop it by building a wall to protect your mind.”

Harry closed his eyes and began to do so, and the pain got sharper. However, he pushed it away and focused on his wall. He imagined it was made of the strongest steel. Then he encased the steel in concrete. When that was done, he began putting boards up to make it even stronger.

“It’s working,” Giles said as he saw smoke begin to rise from Harry’s forehead.

They increased the intensity of their chanting, and then Harry screamed as the pain became unbearable. Then Angus put her thumb to his scar, and he felt a sharp, piercing stab. A loud scream was heard, but it wasn’t come from Harry. Then the pain subsided, and Harry wiped at his cheeks that were wet with his tears.

“There. It’s done,” Angus said in satisfaction.

“What was that scream?” Sirius asked as he moved to check Harry over.

“It was Voldemort, screaming at the loss of this piece of his soul,” Giles said. “Albus believes that Voldemort didn’t completely die because he portioned off parts of his soul and put them inside things. Until they’re all destroyed, he will have purchase on this plane of existence.”

“But he’s gone from me, right?” Harry asked, rubbing his scar.

Cecily handed him a mirror. “Here, Harry. You can see that the scar is a lot less now,” she said.

Harry grabbed it and looked. She was right—the scar was a lot smaller. “Wow!” he said. “Thanks, so , ladies. I really appreciate it.”

“It wasn’t right what was done to you, Harry,” Agnus said. “The fact that you didn’t let that piece of evil he placed inside you corrupt you in any way shows the strength of your character.”

“Your mother’s love protected you,” Sirius said, hugging him.

Giles spoke quietly to the women, thanking them. When they got ready to leave, Harry felt like a huge weight had been lifted off him.

“I feel different,” he said, looking up at Sirius.

“You should,” Giles said. “That was burden that you should not have had to bear.”

“Let’s get you home,” Sirius said, taking Harry’s hand. Harry reached for Giles with his other. 

Then they were back at Hogwarts, and Harry felt so much peace.

****** _Sorting Day*******_

The Scoobies couldn’t believe that it was finally the beginning of the term. Cordelia and Buffy had agreed they weren’t ready to tell her dad and Cordy’s parents about the witchcraft stuff. They had arrived the day before as they had flown back together. Buffy had gotten her dad to drive her to Sunnydale two days before it was time to fly, so she could visit with Angel. Their reunion was bittersweet, but he was doing well. Kendra had met up with the two of them, and Buffy hoped an alliance would be formed once the hellmouth heated up for the year.

Tonight, they would know which house they’d officially be sorted in. All of them were not nearly as excited as their British friends. 

George patted Cordelia’s hand. “Don’t worry, my goddess. I will love you even if you get sorted into the snakes,” he assured her.

“I will love you more,” Fred said, taking her other hand and kissing it loudly.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “You know that I could care less, right?” she said.

Buffy and Harry were across from her. Willow was on Buffy’s other side while Xander was on George’s other side. Hermione and Ron were next to Harry. They were all sitting at the Gryffindor’s table until the sorting was over.

The Headmaster had already welcomed the students and introduced the new teachers. Cordelia thought the new Defense of Dark Arts teacher was dreamy and kept sneaking him glances.

Finally, Dumbledore got out the sorting hat.

All the Scoobies were noticeably disturbed when the hat started singing:

_"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_ _  
_ _But don't judge on what you see,_ _  
_ _I'll eat myself if you can find_ _  
_ _A smarter hat than me._ _  
  
_ _You can keep your_ _bowlers_ _black,_ _  
_ _Your_ _top hats_ _sleek and tall,_ _  
_ _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_ _  
_ _And I can cap them all._ _  
  
_ _There's nothing hidden in your head_ _  
_ _The Sorting Hat can't see,_ _  
_ _So try me on and I will tell you_ _  
_ _Where you ought to be._ _  
  
_ _You might belong in_ _Gryffindor_ _,_ _  
_ _Where dwell the brave at heart,_ _  
_ _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_ _  
_ _Set Gryffindors apart;_ _  
  
_ _You might belong in_ _Hufflepuff_ _,_ _  
_ _Where they are just and loyal,_ _  
_ _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_ _  
_ _And unafraid of toil;_ _  
  
_ _Or yet in wise old_ _Ravenclaw_ _,_ _  
_ _if you've a ready mind,_ _  
_ _Where those of wit and learning,_ _  
_ _Will always find their kind;_ _  
  
_ _Or perhaps in_ _Slytherin_ _  
_ _You'll make your real friends,_ _  
_ _Those cunning folks use any means_ _  
_ _To achieve their ends._ _  
  
_ _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_ _  
_ _And don't get in a flap!_ __  
_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_ _  
_ _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

When it first began to sing, Cordelia was the first to exclaim, “What the bloody hell?”

Buffy instinctively reached for her stake she kept next to her wand in her inside rob pocket. “The hat is possessed. I need to slay it!” she announced.

Willow reached for her arm. “No need, Buffy. Percy told me all about this. Listen to it. It’s telling the stories of the different houses,” she said.

“This is normal,” Harry assured her.

“What does she mean by slaying the hat?” Hermione whispered to Ron.

“She’s afraid of the hat!” Ron said with a laugh. “I thought she was totally fearless.”

“I’m not afraid of the hat,” Buffy said, giving him a cold look. “I’m creeped out.”

When they watched the first kid sorted, Xander asked, “That didn’t seem so bad.”

“I’m not putting that disgusting thing on my head,” Cordelia proclaimed. Then she was called next, and all eyes were looking at her.

Reluctantly, she stood up and approached the front where Dumbledore gave her his benign smile. She glared. “Are you sure the hat doesn’t have lice? All these kids putting it on their heads. I can’t imagine it’s sanitary,” she told him as she stood next to it.

“It is perfectly safe, my dear. The magic preserves it,” he assured her. 

“Fine,” she grumbled, sitting on the stool.

When the hat was placed on her head and started talking to her, she quenched her urge to rip it off.

“Oh, a hellmouth girl. I don’t think I’ve ever had a student with such a fascinating origin,” the hat said.

Cordelia looked at the tables of students, and no one seemed to be paying too much attention to what he was saying. “Can they hear you?” she asked it.

“No. I’m speaking to you. When I want them to hear what I have to say, I proclaim it for all to hear,” it told her. “Hmm. You don’t lack courage—willing to get your hands dirty when it’s called for. Such ambition. The Slytherin house would suit you nicely, but you have more courage and strength than you realize.”

“I want to be in my father’s house,” Cordelia said. She had decided to do her part in the war by getting close to all those who would align themselves with Voldemort. Then she’d turn them away from him. She’d learned at an early age how to get people to follow her. These Brits wouldn’t know what hit them.

“Are you sure?” the hat asked. “Gryffindor would be a better fit.”

“Maybe, but I don’t like how the houses are divided, and my cousin is in that house. I’m not going to stop being friends with my friends because of some dumb house sorting,” she said with derision.

The hat chuckled. “Such leadership and determination. Ravenclaw would welcome one such as you also, but okay. Slytherin!” it shouted.

Draco grinned and cheered at the announcement. His tablemates did, too. Snape flashed her a proud look.

The Weasleys were all shocked and horrified. “Our fair princess is a dark maiden, after all,” George said morosely.

“I always knew she had a dark heart,” Willow said smugly.

Cordelia walked over to her friends at Gryffindor. “This was my choice. I told it to put me there because I’m going to show you guys that house sorting doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does,” she said. “If you’re really my friends, it shouldn’t matter to you either.” 

She looked at the Weasleys’ sad faces and turned and marched toward her new house—her head held high.

A few more students were called and the group who had become friends over the summer sat in silence. “Buffy might go snake, Harry. What will you do then?” Ron whispered to him.

Buffy rolled her eyes, not bothering to let Ron know this time that she could hear him.

“Nothing,” Harry said. “She’s my friend, and Cordelia is part of my family.”

“What do you think she meant that it was her choice?” Hermione asked.

“Let’s wait until there’s less eyes and ears to discuss this,” Harry said.

Then Xander’s name was called. “Alexander Harris,” Professor McGonagall called out.

Xander was a little nervous to have so many eyes on him, but he wasn’t too concerned. He knew where he belonged. 

“Oh, another hellmouth kid—a touch of darkness,” the hat said.

“Yep, good ole’ Sunnydale—the gift that keeps on giving,” he said.

“You’re a very loyal friend, not afraid to do whatever it takes,” the hat said. “But there’s only one place really for you. Gryffindor!” it yelled out.

The Gryffindors cheered. The Weasley twins stood to their feet. “We knew it!” they shouted. They welcomed Xander to the table with open arms.

Several more first years were called, and then it was Willow’s turn. She felt faint as all the eyes were on her as she slowly made her way to the stage. If only Buffy had gone before her, then she’d know which house to wish for. Why didn’t they talk about this more? What house did Buffy even _want_ to be in? Willow realized that she didn’t know.

McGonagall gave her an encouraging smile, and then placed the hat on her head.

“A third child of the hellmouth—so fascinating. The things you’ve seen and faced,” it said to her.

Willow didn’t know if she was supposed to speak back to it. 

“You have a touch of darkness like all children raised on a hellmouth—you could be a dark wizard,” it said. “The power inside you is incredible.”

“I don’t want to be a dark wizard,” Willow insisted, in panic at the thought.

“Are you sure? Very well,” it said. “You are a brave lass, nevertheless. But you hunger so much for knowledge, so there’s really only one place you will thrive—Ravenclaw!” it yelled out.

Willow blinked, not too surprised really. She knew there was a strong chance she’d be put in it, so she walked over to her new house with a nervous smile. Lune Lovegood moved slightly. “Come sit by me,” she said. “You can tell me all about the dark creatures you saw while living on a hellmouth.”

The twins looked at Buffy, who was waiting for her turn without any signs of nerves.

“Look at the brave girl—unafraid,” Fred said. “Surely, she will be ours.”

“If there’s any justice in the world,” George added.

“Guys, it’ll be fine,” Buffy said, unconcerned. When her name was called, she marched confidently up to the stage.

There were many whispers. No one could believe such an obviously golden girl with a bright smile was Professor’s Snape’s daughter. The Weasleys and Potter had embraced her, so would she be one of theirs? Or was she a snake in sheep’s clothing?

When the hat was placed on her head, it gasped. “A slayer? I have never met one such as you,” it said. “Daughter of Severus Snape—what power you have my dear. Touched by death and darkness but you only belong in one place. Gry—” it started to shout.

“Finish that and I will slay you,” Buffy warned in a cold voice. “I _will_ be placed in my father’s house. It’s the only way I can assure his protection.”

“Hmmm. Such a brave and selfless act. That is not your house, my dear,” it said.

“I don’t care about your stupid song and house divisions,” Buffy said impatiently. “Either put me in my father’s house, or I will make sure you suffer greatly as I set you on fire with the nifty spell I learned last week.”

The hat grew alarmed as it sensed no hesitation on the girl’s part—she meant what she said. “Very well,” it grumbled, clearly not happy. “Slytherin!” it shouted.

“No!” George called out. “It’s not possible!”

Severus sat up even straighter as he was clearly bursting with pride that she was in his house. “I had no doubt,” he said to Joyce, who looked bewildered by the entire process. 

A talking hat? Who would’ve thought? Maybe she’d wake up and find that the strange, magical world she was now in was all a fantasy.

Buffy turned toward Gryffindor and blew a kiss and winked at the twins as she hopped off the stage and moved to her new house.

She could’ve warned her new friends how it would be, but she didn’t want to risk it. She had to be in her father’s house, so that the Death Eaters would trust her. She also didn’t want them to have any reason to doubt her father as his role as double agent was extremely dangerous. Being in the house of that begat all the Death Eaters was crucial. It would only be a matter of time before she stood before their so-called Dark Lord. She would get her chance, and she would end the threat to her father once and for all.

Voldemort’s days were numbered—he just didn’t know it. Those who wanted to aid him would learn what it meant to cross a slayer. If they could be swayed and turned, she would do her best. If not, so be it.

They made their choice.

She made hers.

***** _The End... For Now*****_

_I decided several chapters back that I wanted this to be a series, and I wanted the next story to focus on them in houses. The Scoobies presence has changed things so much already, and I need to figure out where I want to go with the rest of the story._

_I had totally intended on putting Buffy in Gryffindor and Cordelia in Slytherin. To me, it was clear from the beginning that she could only be placed in Gryffindor. Then during one of the chapters when I was writing Buffy being overly protective toward her father, I realized that she would do anything to protect him. She would want to be in Slytherin. Then I figured I’d move Cordelia to Gryffindor because we all know how brave and selfless she became after graduation. It’s a good fit. Then as I was writing this chapter, I realized that she wouldn’t want to be in that house. Harry set the precedent for choosing his house when he was going to be put in Slytherin. Much to the Twins’ disappointment, she had to go another way. Can their love survive the house sorting? To be determined…_

_As for Xander, I did a poll at FF and let readers decide where he was placed. I couldn't choose, and the votes put him in Gryffindor by a lead of over twenty votes. It fit the story as I needed someone in that house from Sunnydale anyway. I do believe, though, that Buffy is the purest of all Gryffindors even with the slayer inside her. An argument can be made, though, for all of them in various houses. Please understand that in the end, I selected the houses based on what my story calls for and not any strong belief that they are only that house. No need to be upset over the choice. I hope you can see, as I do, the potential for more storytelling with these sortings._

_I’d love a final review/comment, especially if you’ve never reviewed at all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will post the first chapter in the sequel in a few days. The sequel, however, it not complete. I have several chapters written of it.


End file.
